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Copyright,  1897,  by  D.  H.  Montgomery 


Ube  3Lea&ing  facts  of  Ibistorg  Series 


THE    STUDENT'S 

AMERICAN   HISTORY 


BY 

D.  H.  MONTGOMERY 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  LEADING  FACTS  OF  HISTORY"  SERIES 


REVISED   EDITION 


GINN   &  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •   NEW  YORK  •   CHICAGO  •  LONDON 


Av, 


LEADING   FACTS 
OF  HISTORY  SERIES 


By  D.  H.  MONTGOMERY 


Beginner's  American  History 

(Biographies  of  Eminent  Americans) 
List  price,  60  cents 

An  Elementary  American  History 
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The  Leading  Facts  of  American  History 

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The  Student's  American  History  (Rev.  Ed.) 

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The  Leading  Facts  of  English  History 

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The  Leading  Facts  of  French  History 
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PREFATORY    NOTE 

This  work  follows  the  same  general  lines  as  the  author's  "  Lead 
ing  Facts  of  American  History."  It  differs,  however,  from  the 
more  elementary  manual  in  many  important  respects.  It  is  much 
fuller  in  its  treatment  of  political  and  constitutional  history,  and 
of  the  chief  events  bearing  on  the  development  of  the  nation. 
It  quotes  the  statements  of  public  men,  original  documents,  and 
authorities  in  order  that  the  history  of  our  country  may  speak 
for  itself  on  the  points  of  greatest  interest  to  the  student  and 
the  teacher. 

As  a  help  to  further  research,  references  are  made  in  foot 
notes  to  a  limited  number  of  works  of  acknowledged  merit,  and 
a  classified  list  of  books  on  subjects  and  periods  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix. 

The  author  is  particularly  indebted  to  the  Trustees  and  the 
Librarian  of  the  Boston  Athenaeum  for  the  privilege  of  making 
use  of,  the  admirab1^  collection  of  books  under  their  charge. 


vii 


CONTENTS 

SHCTION  PAGE 

I.    The  Discovery  and  Naming  of  America  (1000-1515)    ....         i 

II.    Attempts  at  Exploring  and  Colonizing  America  (the  Country, 
the  Natives,  Effects  of  the  Discovery  of  America  on  Europe) 

(1513-1600) *3 

III.  Permanent  English  and  French  Settlements  (the  Thirteen  Col 
onies,  French  Exploration  of  the  West,  Wars  with  the  In 
dians  and  with  the  French,  Colonial  Life)  (1600-1763)  .  .  31 

IV.    The  Revolution,  the  Constitution  (1763-1789) T77 

V.    The  Union,  National  Development  (Presidents  from  Washing 
ton  to  Buchanan,  inclusive)  (1789-1861) 239 

VI.    The  War  of  Secession  (1861-1865) 443 

VII.    Reconstruction,  the  New  Nation  (1865  to  the  Present  Time)    .     512 

APPENDIX 

1.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  (with  an  Introduction).     .     .          i 

2.  The  Constitution  (writh  an  Introduction  and  Notes)       ....        vi 

3.  Table  of  Admission  of  States xix 

4.  Table  of  Presidents xxiii 

5.  List  of  Books  on  American  History xxiv 

6.  Table  of  Boundaries  of  the  United  States xxx 

7.  Tables  of  Population  and  Representation xxxii 

8.  Index  .  xxxvii 


ix 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


1.  Medallion  of  Washington  and  Lincoln Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

2.  Governor  Cosby's  Proclamation 60 

3.  Extract  from  the  Massachusetts  "Body  of  Liberties"  of  1641      .  78 

4.  A  Colonial  Bank  Note 164 

5.  Advertisement  of  the  "  Flying  Machine  " 166 

6.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  on  the  Stamp  Act 180 

7.  Franklin's  Letter  to  Strahan 200 

8.  Signatures  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence 202 

9.  Continental  and  State  Paper  Money 212 

10.  George  Rogers  Clark's  Letter  demanding  Hamilton's  Surrender  216 

11.  Signatures  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace  of  1783 224 

12.  A  Call  for  Volunteers,  1799 262 

13.  Abstract  of  Constitutional  Decisions  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 

the  United  States,  1793-1835;  with  portrait  of  Chief  Justice 

Marshall 266 

14.  Fitch's  Letter  on  his  Steamboat ;  Fulton's  Steamboat    ....  280 

15.  Key's  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 298 

16.  The  National  Road,  with  map 320 

17.  The  Monroe  Doctrine 322 

1 8.  A  Railway  Time-Table  of  1843 346 

19.  Morse's  Letter  respecting  the  First  Telegram 378 

20.  Letter  of  John  Brown 432 

21.  Secession  Bulletin 43^ 

22.  Letter  of  Secretary  Dix  on  the  Flag <     •  43^ 

23.  Advertisements  for  Volunteers  for  the  War  for  the  Union  .          .  450 

24.  Grant's  "Unconditional  Surrender"  Dispatch 462 

25.  Lincoln's  Proclamation  of  Emancipation 474 

26.  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Address 4^4 

27.  Admiral  Farragut's  Letter  from  Mobile 502 

28.  Lee's  Letter  of  Surrender 5°6 

29.  Vote  on  the  Impeachment  Trial  of  President  Johnson    ....  524 

30.  Diagram  and  Statistics  showing  Increase  of  Manufactures,  espe 

cially  Iron  and  Steel,  with  Imports  and  Exports      .....  582 


LIST   OF   FULL  AND   DOUBLE   PAGE   MAPS l 


1.  The  World  about  the  Time  of  Columbus 5 

2.  Early  Voyages  to  America  (colored) 19 

3.  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States  (colored) 20 

4.  Indian  Trails 23 

5.  Physical  Features  of  the  United  States 29 

6.  First  Settlements  made  on  the  Eastern  Coast  of  America  ...  49 

7.  The  French  in  the  West 139 

8.  The  Louisiana  Country  claimed  by  La  Salle  for  France  ....  143 

9.  The  King's  Proclamation  Line,  1763 155 

10.  Period  of  the  Revolution  —  New  England  (colored) 190 

11.  Period  of  the  Revolution  —  Middle  Colonies  (colored)    ....  236 

12.  Burgoyne's  Expedition;  Washington's  Movement  against  York- 

town  ;  Yorktown 209 

13.  Period  of  the  Revolution  —  Southern  States  (colored)    ....  218 

14.  The  United  States  at  the  Close  of  the  Revolution  (colored)    .     .  226 

15.  The  Northwest  Territory  (colored) 228 

16.  The  United  States  in  1792  (colored) 250 

17.  Indian  Land  Cessions  in  Ohio 254 

18.  The  United  States  at  the  Census  of  1800 ,     .  269 

19.  The  War  of  1812 ,     .  296 

20.  The  Mexican  War 384 

21.  The  Area  of  Freedom  and  of  Slavery  in  1857 423 

22.  The  Civil  War  (colored) 456 

23.  The  Defenses  of  Washington 459 

24.  The  Battle  of  Gettysburg 481 

25.  The  Siege  of  Vicksburg 487 

26.  Possessions  of  the  United  States  in  North  America 527 

27.  Territorial  Growth  of  the  United  States  (colored) 556 

28.  The  United  States  at  the  Present  Time  (colored) 570 

29.  The  United  States  and  Dependent  Territories  (colored)      .     .     .  590 

1  For  list  of  maps  in  the  text,  see  Index  under  "  Maps." 


xi 


THE 

STUDENT'S  AMERICAN  HISTORY1 

I 

THE   DISCOVERY   AND    NAMING   OF   AMERICA2 

(1000-1515) 

For  authorities  for  this  chapter,  see  footnotes  and  the  classified 
list  of  books  in  the  Appendix,  Page  xxiv 

THE  NORTHMEN  — COLUMBUS  — CABOT  — AMERICUS  VESPUCIUS 

i.  The  discovery  of  America  by  the  Northmen  ; 3  "  Vinland  the 
Good."  The  Scandinavians,  or  Northmen,  were  the  most  skillful 
and  daring  sailors  of  the  middle  ages.  For  them  the  Atlantic  — 
"  the  Sea  of  Darkness"  —  had  no  terrors.  Before  the  mariner's 
compass  had  come  into  use  in  Europe  they  made  distant  voyages 
in  vessels  often  not  so  large  as  modern  pleasure  yachts.  Their 
only  guides  on  those  perilous  expeditions  were  the  sun,  the  stars, 
and  the  flight  of  birds. 

In  the  ninth  century  the  Northmen  conquered  a  large  part  of 
England  ;  they  also  planted  a  colony  in  Iceland.     Their  sagas  or 

1  In  using  this  book  the  following-named  works  of  reference  by  Professor  William 
Macdonald,  of  Brown  University,  will  be  constantly  found  of  the  greatest  value: 
(i)  Select  Charters,  etc.,  of  American  History  (1606-1775) ;  (2)  Select  Documents  of 
United  States  History  (1776-1861) ;  (3)  Select  Statutes  of  United  States  History 
(1861-1898).     For  other  works  of  reference,  see  Appendix,  page  xxiv. 

2  See,  in  general,  Winsor's  America,  II,  ch.  i,  ii ;  Fiske's  Discovery  of  America, 
I,  ch.  ii,  v,  vi ;  II,  ch.  vii. 

3  See  Winsor's  America,  I,  ch.  ii ;    Bryant  and  Gay's  United  States   (revised 
edition),  I,  ch.  iii;   Fiske's  Discovery  of  America,  I,  164-220,  253-255;   Fischer's 
The  Norsemen  in  America ;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  21-23. 

I 


2  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1000-1347 

traditions  inform  us  that,  late  in  the  next  century  (981),  Eric  the 
Red  set  sail  from  Iceland  in  search  of  a  strange  land  which  a 
Norse  sailor,  blown  out  of  his  course,  had  sighted  in  the  far  West. 
He  found  it,  and,  giving  it  the  tempting  name  of  Greenland, 
lured  a  band  of  colonists  to  those  desolate  shores.  About  the 
year  1000  Leif  Ericson,  —  later  known  as  "  Leif  the  Lucky,"  — 
a  son  of  Eric  the  Red,  set  out  from  Greenland  in  quest  of  a  land 
which  a  storm-driven  mariner  had  seen  in  the  southwest.  He 
discovered  a  beautiful  country  which  abounded  in  wild  grapes. 
"  From  its  products  Leif  gave  the  land  a  name,  and  called  it 
Vinland."  Here  the  Northmen  planted  a  colony  and  carried 
on  trade  with  Greenland.  In  1347  the  Norse  records  mention 
a  ship's  going  to  this  southern  colony  after  a  load  of  timber. 
That  is  the  last  that  we  hear  of  the  settlement.  The  North 
men  ceased  to  make  voyages  to  the  west,  the  colonies  they  had 
planted  died  out,  all  records  of  them  were  forgotten,  and  we 
have  no  evidence  that  Columbus  ever  heard  of  the  discovery 
of  Vinland. 

2.  The  locality  of  "  Vinland ";  the  Northmen  and  American 
history.  In  recent  years  repeated  attempts  have  been  made  to 
determine  the  locality  of  Vinland,  but  without  acknowledged 
success.  Many  have  supposed  that  Leif  Ericson  landed  on  some 
part  of  the  New  England  coast.  The  descriptions  of  the  country 
given  by  the  records  fail  to  throw  any  decisive  light  on  this  point, 
and  no  Norse  graves,  inscriptions,  or  ruins  have  been  found  on 
the  mainland  of  America,  although  the  ruins  of  buildings  erected 
by  the  Northmen  are  still  standing  in  Greenland. 

The  conclusion  of  most  eminent  scholars  respecting  the  settle 
ments  of  the  Northmen  is  that  "  the  soil  of  the  United  States  has 
not  one  vestige  of  their  presence."  Granting  that  those  bold 
sailors  did  establish  colonies  on  the  mainland  of  America,  as  it  is 
certain  they  did  on  the  coast  of  Greenland,  still  their  work  had 
no  permanent  results  and  no  direct  connection  with  American 
history.  It  was  simply  a  match  struck  in  the  dark,  sending  out 
a  momentary  flash  of  light,  but  nothing  more. 


1420-1487]     DISCOVERY  AND  NAMING   OF  AMERICA 


After  Columbus  made  his  great  voyage,  the  English  descendants 
of  the  Northmen,  who  had  conquered  and  held  half  of  Britain, 
came  to  the  tront.  As  colonists  of  the  New  World  they  set  their 
lasting  mark  on  this  continent.  Hence  we  may  say  that  the  old 
Norse  daring,  which  braved  the  tempests  of  the  Northern  Atlantic 
centuries  before  Columbus  was  born,  stands  forth  a  powerful  factor 
in  the  making  of  America.  Furthermore,  the  Scandinavian  immi 
gration  to-day  lends  its  strength  to  the  republic. 

3.  A  new  search  for  lands  beyond  the  Atlantic ;  European  trade 
with  the  Indies.  Nearly  five  hundred  years  after  Leif  Ericson 
feasted  on  wild  grapes  in  Vinland,  the  project  of  crossing  the 


TRADE  ROUTES  TO  THE  INDIES 

Atlantic  in  quest  of  distant  lands  again  came  up.  This  time  it 
was  not  a  Northman,  but  an  Italian,  who  was  to  make  the  attempt. 
His  venture  was  suggested  by  the  demands  of  commerce. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  Venice  had  gained 
control  of  the  lucrative  trade  between  Europe  and  the  Indies. 
That  trade,  however,  was  seriously  hampered  by  the  fact  that 
it  could  not  follow  a  direct  and  continuous  water  route.  The 


4  THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1420-1487] 

Isthmus  of  Suez  barred  the  way.  For  this  reason,  the  spices, 
silks,  and  drugs  brought  from  the  far  East  up  the  Red  Sea  had 
to  be  unloaded,  transported  across  the  desert  to  the  Nile,  and 
reshipped  to  Alexandria  for  the  Mediterranean.  Europe  in  the 
interest  of  trade  called  for  an  all-sea  route  to  the  Indies. 

4.  The  work  of  "  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator  "  ;  Bartholomew 
Diaz.    Prince  Henry  of  Portugal,  commonly  known  as  "  Prince 
Henry  the  Navigator,"  undertook  to  find  the  required  route.    For 
forty  years  (1420—1460)  his  captains  were  exploring  the  seem 
ingly  endless  western  coast  of  Africa,  endeavoring  to  discover  a 
way  around  that  mysterious  continent  into  the  waters  of  the  Indian 
Ocean.     Year  after  year  the  Portuguese  ships  crept  down  that 
coast,  but    found  no   passage   to   the   East.     The  problem  was 
unsolved  when  Henry  died,  but  nearly  thirty  years  later  success 
was  practically  gained.     Bartholomew  Diaz  (1487)  succeeded  in 
doubling  the  formidable  Cape  of  Storms. 

Then  it  was  seen  that  at  last  the  way  to  the  Indies  was  almost 
as  good  as  opened ;  for  that  reason  the  Cape  of  Storms  received 
the  auspicious  name  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  But  the  length 
of  the  new  route  was  a  serious  drawback,  since  every  bale  of  goods 
shipped  from  the  East  would  have  to  make  a  voyage  of  at  least 
twelve  thousand  miles  in  order  to  reach  the  European  market. 
The  question  arose,  might  it  not  be  possible  to  find  a  better  way? 

5.  Columbus1  proposes  a  new  and  shorter  route  to  the  Indies. 
Christopher  Columbus,  a  native  of  Genoa,  was  ready  to  answer 
that  question.     He  was  an  experienced   mariner,  and   believed 
that  he  could  discover  a  far  shorter  and  more  direct  all-water 
route  to  the  much-coveted  Indies.     The  leading  geographers  of 
that  day  regarded  the  earth  as  a  globe.    Columbus  held  the  same 
idea,  but  he  considered  the  globe  to  be  much  smaller  than  it 

actually  is.     It  embraced,  as  he  supposed,  but  one  ocean the 

Atlantic  —  which    surrounded  the   three   continents   of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa. 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  II,  ch.  i,  iii,  ix;  Fiske's  Discovery  of  America,  I,  ch  v 
and  515-516. 


THE  WORLD  AS  KNOWN  SHORTLY  BEFORE  AND  SHORTLY  AFTER 

THE  SAILING  OF  COLUMBUS 

Light  arrows  show  voyages  made  up  to  1492 ;  (light  track,  Da  Gama's  voyage,  1497). 
Dark  arrows,  voyages  of  Columbus  and  Cabot. 

White  crosses,  countries  of  which  something  was  known  before  1492. 
White  area,  including  western  coast  of  Africa,  the  world  as  known  shortly  before  the 
sailing  of  Columbus. 


6  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 

These  three  continents,  with  their  outlying  islands,  he  believed 
constituted  all  the  land  there  was.  He  imagined  that  the  Indies 
faced  Europe  at  a  distance  of  less  than  four  thousand  miles.  His 
plan  for  reaching  the  far  East  was  very  simple ;  he  would  make 
for  the  Canaries,  and  then  sail  nearly  due  west  until  he  touched 
the  coast  of  Asia.  Such  a  route  would  have  an  immense  advan 
tage  over  the  circuitous  and  dangerous  voyage  around  Africa,  for 
it  would  be  almost  a  straight  line  and  would  save  something  like 
eight  thousand  miles. 

6.  Columbus  fits  out  vessels  for  the  voyage;  objects  of  the 
undertaking.    After  years  of  vain  solicitation,  Columbus  succeeded 
in  getting  the  assistance  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain.     He 
fitted  out  three  small  vessels  for  the  voyage;  of  this  little  fleet 
he  was  to  be  admiral.     To  guide  him  on  his  course  he  had  the 
compass,  an  improved  astrolabe,  or  instrument  for  determining 
the  position  of  a  ship  at  sea  by  taking  observations  of  the  sun 
and  stars,  and   his  carefully  drawn  charts.     In   this  great  and 
original  undertaking  Columbus  was  not  seeking  to  find  new  lands, 
but  a  new  way  to  reach  old  lands.     His  three  chief  objects  were  : 
(i)   to  open  direct   trade   with   the   Indies;    (2)    to  carry   the 
Catholic  faith  to  the  nations  of  the  far  East;    (3)   to  gain  for 
himself  fame  and  fortune. 

7.  Columbus  sails ;  the  voyage ;  he  discovers  land  and  returns 
to  Spain.    Columbus  sailed  from  Palos,  Spain,  August  3,   1492. 
He  made  directly  for  the  Canary  Islands,  which  he  supposed  to 
be  in  a  line  with  Japan.     The  route  to  those  islands  was  well 
known.     He  reached  them  August  12,  and  stopped  more  than 
three  weeks  to  refit  his  vessels.     On  September  6  he  set  out  on 
his  ever-memorable  voyage  across  the  "  Sea  of  Darkness."     He 
believed  himself,  as  he  said,  "  an  agent  chosen  by  Heaven  to 
accomplish  a  grand  design." 

Day  after  day  passed,  but  no  land  was  sighted,  and  the  sailors, 
losing  heart,  cried  out  to  Columbus  :  "Are  there  no  graves  in 
Spain,  that  you  should  bring  us  here  to  perish?"  They  were 
terrified  at  the  variation  of  the  compass,  and  still  later,  becoming 


1492-1493]     DISCOVERY  AND   NAMING  OF  AMERICA 


desperate,  they  threatened  to  turn  the  ship  back ;  but  Columbus 
compelled  them  to  keep  on  their  way,  and  on  October  1 2  land 
was  sighted.  It  was  the  low,  sandy  shore  of  a  small  island.  Here 
he  planted  the  royal  standard  of  Spain,  named  the  island  San 
Salvador,  or  the  Holy  Redeemer,  and  took  possession  of  it  for 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

The  naked  natives  crowded  around  the  Spaniards  shouting, 
"  Come  and  see  the  men  who  have  come  from  heaven."  Going 
south  Columbus  discovered  Cuba,  which  he  believed  to  be  a 
part  of  the  mainland  of  Asia.  Having  left  a  garrison  to  hold 
a  small  fort  on  the  coast  of  San  Domingo  or  Hayti,  he  set  sail 
for  Spain  (January,  1493).  He  was  certain  that  he  had  found 
the  Indies,  and  as  he  had  reached  them  by  sailing  west,  they 
received  the  name  of  the  West  Indies.  For  a  like  reason  he 
called  the  natives  of  these  islands  Indians. 

8.  Letter  of  Columbus;  arrival  in  Spain;  reception  at  court ; 
the  pope  divides  the  earth.  Forced  to  put  into  Lisbon,  Columbus 
there  wrote  to  the  royal  treasurer  of 
Spain  describing  his  discoveries.  In 
his  letter  he  declared  that  he  had 
"  accomplished  a  task  to  which  the 
power  of  mortal  man  had  never 
before  attained."  At  Palos  all  the 
people,  forming  a  solemn  procession, 
came  out  to  receive  him,  and  when 
he  arrived  at  the  royal  court  at 
Barcelona  the  king  and  queen  stood 
up  to  give  him  welcome. 

News  of  the  wonderful  discovery 
was  at  once  sent  to  the  pope.  He 
received  the  messenger  with  joy.  As  "lord  of  the  world"  he 
proceeded  to  divide  the  newly  discovered  heathen  lands  between 
Spain  and  Portugal,  the  two  great  exploring  powers.  Taking  a 
map  of  the  globe,  he  drew  a  line  from  pole  to  pole  a  hundred 
leagues  west  of  the  Azores  and  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands.  All 


f 


THE  POPE'S  DIVISION  OF 
THE  WORLD,  AS  FINALLY 
DECIDED  IN  1494 


8  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1493-1506 

lands  found  west  of  that  line,  not  belonging  to  some  Christian 
prince,  he  granted  to  Spain ;  all  similar  lands  east  of  it  he  recog 
nized  as  belonging  to  Portugal.1  Thus  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen 
through  a  map  of  the  world  the  pope  gave  Spain  the  entire  con 
tinent  of  North  America.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  soon  began 
to  establish  settlements  in  the  West  Indies  and  seized  the  natives 
as  slaves. 

9.  What  Columbus  discovered  ;  his  death  ;  greatness  of  his  work. 
In   the   course    of   his    three    subsequent   voyages   (1493-1504) 
Columbus  discovered  the  mainland  of  Central  and  South  America, 
but  never  touched  any  part  of  what  is  now  the  mainland  of  the 
United  States.    He  died  in  1506  in  the  unshaken  belief  that  he 
had  found  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia.    He  did  not  dream  that  by 
a  happy  accident  he  had  actually  found  a  fourth  continent  —  a 
"  new  world."     It  has  been  well  said  :   Nothing  like  it  was  ever 
done  before,  and  nothing  like  it  can  ever  be  done  again,  for,  save 
the  island-continent  of  Australia,  Columbus  left  no  new  worlds  for 
a  future  explorer  to  reveal. 

The  true  glory  of  the  Genoese  sailor  is  that  he  was  the  first 
civilized  man  who  dared  cross  the  Atlantic  and  thus  lead  the 
way  to  this  fourth  continent.  His  discovery  stands  forth  the 
greatest  secular  event  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  world,  — 
one  half  of  which  had  never  suspected  the  existence  of  the  other 
half. 

10.  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot2  plan  a  rival  route  to  the  Indies. 
When  Columbus  returned  to  Spain  at  the  termination  of  his  first 
voyage  the  news  of  his  discovery  created  "  great  talk  at  the  court 
of  Henry  VII  in  England."     John  Cabot,  an  Italian  merchant, 
was  then  living  at  the  port  of  Bristol.     His  so'n  Sebastian  says 
that  the  report  of  what  Columbus  had  achieved  kindled  in  his 
own  heart  "  a  great  flame  of  desire  to  attempt  some  notable 


1  In  1494  a  conference  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  powers  moved  the  line  of 
demarcation  two  hundred  and  seventy  leagues  farther  west.     This,  as  will  be  seen, 
gave  Portugal  possession  of  Brazil. 

2  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  i ;  Fiske's  Discovery  of  America,  II,  16. 


1497] 


DISCOVERY  AND  NAMING  OF  AMERICA 


thing."  The  "notable  thing"  developed  itself  into  a  project  for 
reaching  the  Spice  Islands  of  the  Indies  by  sailing  westward  on 
an  extreme  northern  course  so  as  to  pass  round  the  "backside 
of  Greenland." 

John  Cabot  entered  into  his  son's  scheme  with  much  enthu 
siasm,  and  hoped  "  to  make  London  a  greater  place  for  spices 
than  Alexandria."  Henry  VII  issued  a  patent  to  the  elder 
Cabot  and  his  sons  giving  them  authority  to  discover  and  take 
possession  of  those  heathen  lands  in  the  west  "which  before 
this  time  have  been  unknown 
to  all  Christians." 

ii.  First  voyage  of  the  Cab- 
ots  ;  second  voyage  ;  Newfound 
land  fisheries ;  results  of  the 
first  voyage.  John  Cabot,  prob 
ably  accompanied  by  Sebastian, 
sailed  from  Bristol  in  1497. 
The  chief  results  of  the  voyage 
were  set  forth  on  a  map  bear 
ing  this  inscription  :  "  In  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1497,  John 
Cabot,  a  Venetian,  and  his  son, 
Sebastian,  .  .  .  discovered  that 
land  which  no  man  before  that  time  had  attempted,  on  the 
24th  of  June,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  morning." 

This  "  land  "  —  marked  on  the  map,  "  Land  First  Seen  "  - 
appears  to  have  been  Cape  Breton,  or  some  part  of  the  coast  not 
far  from  it.  Here  the  Cabots  went  ashore,  and,  hoisting  the  Eng 
lish  flag,  claimed  the  country  for  the  British  crown.  The  envoy 
of  the  Duke  of  Milan  wrote  to  the  duke  from  London  of  this 
claim,  saying,  "  His  Majesty  (Henry  VII)  has  won  a  part  of  Asia 
without  a  stroke  of  the  sword." 

The  next  year  (1498)  the  Cabots  sailed  westward  again. 
They  went  much  farther  north  in  the  hope  of  discovering  a 
short  passage  to  the  Indies.  At  this  point  the  elder  Cabot 


10  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1499-1503 

disappears  from  history.  Sebastian  admits  that  the  icebergs  which 
blocked  his  way  chilled  his  enthusiasm  and  made  him  turn  south 
ward.  He  coasted  along  the  American  mainland  looking  for  a 
passage  through  to  the  East,  until,  as  he  says,  he  reached  a  point 
"almost  equal  in  latitude  with  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar."  He 
then  set  his  face  homeward. 

The  reports  made  by  the  Cabots  of  the  vast  quantities  of  cod 
fish  seen  by  them  in  the  vicinity  of  Newfoundland  opened  the 
way  to  the  establishment  by  the  English  and  P^rench  of  the 
largest  fisheries  in  the  world.  These  fisheries  had  a  very  marked 
influence  on  American  colonial  history,  and  have  since  given  rise 
to  important  international  questions. 

But  the  crowning  result  of  John  Cabot's  voyage  in  1497  was 
that  he  was  the  first  European  (since  the  days  of  the  Northmen) 
who  set  foot  on  the  continent  of  North  America.  He  thus,  as 
Burke  declares,  gave  the  English  their  claim  to  the  mainland. 
This  laid  the  foundation  for  the  North  American  colonies  which 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  began  in  the  next  century. 

12.  The  voyages  of  Americus  Vespucius  to  the  "  New  World." 
In   1499   (after  Columbus  had  made  his  third  voyage  and  had 
discovered  the  mainland  at  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco)  Americus 
Vespucius,1  a  Florentine,  and  a  friend  of  Columbus,  sailed  with  a 
Spanish  expedition  which  explored  part  of  the  same  coast.     Two 
years  later  (1501)  he  made  another  voyage  and  touched  Brazil. 
On  his  return  he  suggested  that  the  lands  he  had  visited  in  the 
south  should  be  called  the  "  New  World."     The  next  year  (1503) 
Vespucius  again  visited  South  America  and  built  a  fort  on  the 
coast  of  Brazil.     On  his  return  he  wrote  a  brief  account  of  his 
voyages,  but  the  original  manuscript  has  never  been  found. 

13.  How  America  received  its  name.    A  copy  of  the  account 
written  by  Vespucius  chanced  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  German 

i.The  question  whether  Vespucius  made  an  earlier  voyage  (1497)  is  still  a  matter 
of  controversy.  See  Winsor's  America,  II,  129-179.  In  case  he  made  the  voyage 
of  1497,  he  may  have  discovered  the  mainland  of  the  western  continent  a  week  or 
two  before  the  Cabots  did  (§  n).  Scholars  differ,  too,  in  regard  to  their  acceptance 
of  his  other  statements.  See  Larned's  Literature  of  American  History,  I,  64-65. 


1507-1728]     DISCOVERY  AND  NAMING  OF  AMERICA         n 


named  Waldseemiiller.  He  was  a  teacher  of  geography  in  the 
college  of  St.  Did  —  a  village  of  Lorraine  now  included  in  eastern 
France.  The  college  owned  a  small  press  on  which,  in  1507, 
Waldseemiiller  printed  a  thin  Latin  pamphlet  bearing  the  title 
"An  Introduction  to  Geography."  In  it  he  described  the  three 
continents  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa ;  he  then  gave  an  account  of 
the  voyages  of  Americus  Vespucius,  and  closed  by  saying,  "  The 
fourth  part  of  the  world  having  been  discovered  by  Americus,  it 
may  be  called  .  .  .  the 
land  of  Americus,  or 
America" 

The  suggestion  met 
with  favor.  On  a  Ger 
man  globe  made  in 
1515  we  find  America 

standing  out  in  bold 

THE  VILLAGE  OF  ST.  DTE,  EASTERN  FRANCE 
letters  on  what  appears 

to  be  a  great  southern  island  in  the  western  Atlantic  (see  map 
on  page  12).  The  name  was  at  first  confined  to  South  America; 
later  it  was  applied  to  both  of  the  western  continents. 

14.  How   it   was  discovered   that  America   was  a   continent ; 
Magellan;    Bering.     For  a  long   time    North  America  was  laid; 
down  on  the  maps  of  that  period  as  an  island.     The  true  con-i 
tinental  character  of  the  New  World  was  discovered  gradually. 
Cabot  and  Vespucius  must  have  suspected  it,  but  it  was  not  until 
Magellan  made  his  famous  voyage  around  the  globe  (1519-1521) 
that  the  evidence  became  strong.     The  Spanish  explorers  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  Sir  Francis  Drake,  in  his  voyage  around  the-, 
world   (1577-1579),  confirmed  that  evidence. 

But  even  then  the  actual  breadth  of  North  America  was  not; 
clearly  recognized,  and  as  late  as  Henry  Hudson's  expedition; 
(1609)  European  navigators  thought  that  they  might  find  a  short; 
passage  through  the  northern  continent  to  the  Pacific.  In  the 
next  century  Virus  Bering,  the  Danish  explorer  (1728),  sailed 
through  the  straits  which  have  since  borne  his  name  and  proved 


12 


THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


[1856 


that  America  was  not  attached  to  Asia  in  that  quarter.  In  1856 
the  discovery  of  the  Northwest  Passage  completed  this  process 
and  showed  that  America  is  absolutely  disconnected  from  Asia. 

15.  Summary.  About  the  year  1000  Leif  Ericson,  a  North 
man,  discovered  Vinland  on  the  North  American  coast ;  but  in 
the  course  of  a  few  centuries  all  knowledge  of  Vinland  was  lost. 
In  1492  Columbus  in  searching  for  a  new  route  to  the  Indies 
discovered  the  West  India  Islands.  In  1497  John  Cabot  landed 
on  the  North  American  continent  and  claimed  it  for  the  English 
crown.  England  considered  that  this  claim  gave  her  the  right 
to  plant  colonies  in  America. 

Between  1499  and  1503  Americus  Vespucius  made  three  voyages 
to  the  South  American  coast.  His  description  of  the  New  World 
suggested  the  name  America,  which  was  given  to  South  America, 
and  later  extended  to  the  northern  continent.  The  true  char 
acter  of  North  America  was  discovered  by  Magellan,  Drake,  the 
Spanish  explorers  of  the  Pacific  coast,  Captain  Bering,  and  his 
successors. 


II 

ATTEMPTS   AT    EXPLORING   AND    COLONIZING 
AMERICA1 

(1513-1600) 

For  authorities  for  this  chapter,  see  footnotes  and  the  classified 
list  of  books  in  the  Appendix,  page  xxiv 

THE  COUNTRY— THE    NATIVES  —  EFFECTS  OF  THE    DISCOVERY  OF 
AMERICA  ON   EUROPE 

1 6.  The  miraculous  spring ;   Ponce  de  Leon  discovers  Florida. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  a  Portuguese  historian  wrote  to  the 
pope,  "  There  is  an  island  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  leagues 
from  Hispaniola  (Hayti)  ...  on  which  is  a  never-failing  spring 
of  such  marvelous  efficacy  that  when  the  water  is  drunk,  perhaps 
with  some  attention  to  diet,  it  makes  old  people  young  again." 

Ponce  de  Leon,  a  Spanish  cavalier,  who  was,  as  his  epitaph 
declared,  "  a  lion  by  name  and  still  more  by  nature,"  resolved  to 
set  out  in  search  of  this  marvelous  spring.  He  hoped  thereby  to 
find  new  lands  and  new  life  at  the  same  time.  It  was  a  compli 
ment  to  America  that  men  believed  it  could  give  all  things,  not 
only  gold  and  fame  but  even  one's  lost  youth. 

De  Leon  sailed  (1513)  from  Porto  Rico  with  a  picked  crew  in 
search  of  the  miraculous  fountain.  On  Easter  Day  —  in  Spanish 
called  Pascua  Florida,  or  "Flowery  Easter"  —  they  discovered 
land.  De*Leon  and  his  men  went  ashore  a  few  miles  north  of 
where  the  Spaniards  later  founded  St.  Augustine.  He  called  the 

1  See,  in  general,  Winsor's  America,  II,  ch.  iii,  iv;  III,  ch.  iv;  Parkman's  Pioneers 
of  France  in  the  New  World,  ch.  vii-ix;  Fiske's  Discovery  of  America,  II,  500-522; 
Thwaites'  Colonies,  27-32,  33-34- 


14  THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1513-1543 

land  Florida  from  the  name  of  the  day  on  which  he  had  discovered 
it.  Later  (1521)  he  returned  to  colonize  Florida.  The  Indians 
resisted  his  attempt  to  seize  their  country,  and  in  the  fight  the 
stout-hearted  old  cavalier  received  his  death  wound. 

17.  Balboa  discovers  a  new  ocean  ;  Magellan  names  it;  Spanish 
exploration  of  the  Pacific  coast.    Meanwhile  Balboa,  the  Spanish 
governor  of  a  colony  on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  set  out  (1513) 
to  discover  a  sea  said  to  exist  in  the  southwest.     After  an  ex 
hausting  march    of    nearly    three   weeks,    over    rocky    hills   and 
through  vine-tangled  forests,  the  expedition  reached  the  foot  of 
a  mountain,  where  he  called  a  halt.     Climbing  to  the  top  of  this 
height,  the  Spaniard  looked  down  upon  the  shining  waters  of  the 
"South  Sea." 

No  white  man  had  ever  before  beheld  that  greatest  of  the  oceans 
of  the  globe;  next  after  Columbus,  Balboa  had  made  the  most 
remarkable  geographical  discovery  recorded  in  history.  A  few- 
days  later,  wading  into  the  waters  of  that  sea,  he  drew  his  sword 
and  declared  that  the  kings  of  Spain  would  hold  possession  of  the 
South  Sea  and  of  its  coasts  and  islands  "  while  the  earth  revolves, 
and  until  the  universal  judgment  of  mankind." 

Seven  years  later  (1520)  Magellan  entered  that  ocean  on  his 
voyage  around  the  globe.  He  found  its  waters  so  calm  that  he 
named  it  the  Pacific. 

Cortez  had  begun  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  and  in  the  course  of 
a  little  more  than  twenty  years  (1520-1543)  Spain  had  explored 
the  Pacific  coast  of  North  America  as  far  as  Oregon. 

1 8.  Narvaez   attempts   to   conquer  Florida;   the  adventures  of 
Cabeza  de  Vaca.    While  Cortez  was  plundering  Mexico,  Narvaez 
started  from  Spain  (1528)  to  conquer  Florida,  but  lost  his  life 
in  the  undertaking.     Cabeza  de  Vaca  and  three  survivors  of  the 
expedition  were  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Texas. 

He  and  his  companions  managed  to  escape  from  a  long  cap 
tivity  among  the  Indians,  and  set  out  to  cross  the  country  to  the 
Spanish  settlements  on  the  Pacific  coast.  After  two  years  of 
wandering  they  arrived  (1538)  at  the  city  of  Mexico. 


1539-1542]     EXPLORING  AND  COLONIZING  AMERICA      15 

Cabeza  carried  to  the  Spaniards  of  the  Pacific  coast  reports 
of  the  existence  of  the  wonderful  stone  and  adobe  cities  of  the 
Indians  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  This  led  to  the  great 
exploring  expedition  undertaken  (154°)  by  Coronado. 

19.  De  Soto's  expedition;  the  Indians.    When  Cabeza  returned 
to  Spain  he  reported  that  Florida  was  "  the  richest  country  in  the 
world."     Ferdinand  de  Soto,  who  had  been  with  Pizarro  in  South 
America,  heard  this  report  with  savage  delight.     He  liked  the 
"sport  of  killing  Indians,"  and  hoped  to  strip  the  Florida  chiefs 
of  their  gold  as  Pizarro  had  stripped  the  unfortunate  ruler  of  Peru. 

In  1539  De  Soto  landed  with  an  army  of  six  hundred  men  at 
Tampa  Bay,  Florida.  The  Indians  fought  heroically  against  the 
invaders,  but  their  arrows  were  no  match  for  the  arms  carried  by 
these  white  "  warriors  of  fire." 

The  Spaniards  chained  a  number  of  natives  in  gangs,  forced 
them  to  serve  as  guides  through  the  forest,  and  made  them  carry 
their  baggage  and  pound  their  corn. 

20.  De  Soto  discovers  the  "Great  River"  of  the  West;   his 
death.    In  the  spring  (1541)  the  Spaniards  came  to  the  banks  of 
the  "Great  River"  of  the  West.     At  the  point  where  they  first 
saw  it,  the  river  "was  about  half  a  league  broad,"  of  "great 
depth,"  with  "  a  strong  current,"  "  the  water  was  always  muddy, 
and  timber  and  trees  were  continually  floating  down."     Such  is 
the  first  description  by  Europeans  of  the  Mississippi. 

De  Soto  and  his  party  crossed  this  mighty  stream  probably  not 
far  below  the  present  city  of  Memphis,  and  pushed  on  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  Hot  Springs  of  Arkansas.  In  the  spring,  utterly 
discouraged,  they  set  out  to  reach  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  They  got 
as  far  as  the  point  where  the  Red  River  unites  with  the  Mississippi. 
There  (1542)  De  Soto  died,  and  was  secretly  buried  at  midnight  in 
the  turbid  waters  of  the  "  Great  River  "  which  he  had  discovered 
(see  map  on  page  16).  His  followers  built  boats,  and  dropping 
down  the  stream  succeeded  at  length  in  reaching  Mexico. 

21.  The  seven  wonderful  cities  ;  Coronado's  expedition  ;  Onate's 
expedition.    But  the  effect  of  Cabeza  de  Vaca's  reports  did  not 


i6 


THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1539-1540 


end  with  De  Soto's  disastrous  expedition.  Some  Indians  had  told 
the  Spaniards  in  Mexico  that  there  were  seven  wonderful  cities 
full  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones  about  forty  days'  journey 
northward  in  a  region  called  Cibola.  Cabeza,  then  in  Mexico,  said 
that  he  too  had  heard  of  these  remarkable  cities.  The  cupidity 
of  the  Spaniards  was  excited  to  fever  point.  A  negro  who  had 
been  one  of  Cabeza's  former  companions  was  sent  out  as  guide 
to  a  monk  who  was  directed  to  bring  back  an  account  of  Cibola. 
They  penetrated  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  and  came  in  sight 
of  one  of  the  marvelous  cities.  The  next  year  (1540)  Coronado, 


EXPLORING  EXPEDITIONS  OF  DE  SOTO  AND  CORONADO 

the  Spanish  governor  of  a  Mexican  province,  set  out  with  an  army 
to  conquer  Cibola.  After  a  terrible  march  over  mountains  of 
rock  and  through  suffocating  deserts,  Coronado  reached  one  of 
the  cities  —  the  pueblo  of  Zuni,  it  is  supposed  —  and  took  it  by 
assault,  but  found  no  gold  or  precious  stones. 

From  this  point  he  sent  out  an  exploring  party  in  search  of  a 
strange  river.  They  discovered  the  Canon  of  the  Colorado  — 
the  deepest  gorge  known  to  exist  in  the  earth's  crust.  Led  on 


1541-1605]     EXPLORING  AND  COLONIZING  AMERICA       I/ 

by  stories  of  gold  to  be  found  farther  north,  Coronado  pushed 
forward  until,  according  to  his  own  computation,  he  reached 
the  fortieth  parallel  of  latitude.  Here,  first  of  white  men,  he 
hunted  buffalo  —  perhaps  on  the  plains  of  Kansas.  The  next 
year  (1541)  he  reached  the  banks  of  a  branch  of  the  Mississippi 
and  set  up  a  cross  bearing  the  inscription  :  "Thus  far  came  the 
general  Francisco  Vasquez  de  Coronado."  Had  the  bold  explorer 
kept  on  eastward  from  New  Mexico  he  might  have  met  his 
countryman  De  Soto,  who  had  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  was 
moving  westward. 

More  than  half  a  century  later  Onate,  a  Spanish  military  leader, 
founded  Santa  Fe  (1605),  the  second  oldest  town  in  the  United 
States ;  his  name,  cut  on  the  smooth  white  sandstone  of  "  Inscrip 
tion  Rock,"  between  Santa  Fe  and  Zuni,  is  still  distinctly  legible. 

These  men  cared  nothing  for  America  itself,  but  only  for  what 
they  could  get  out  of  it.  Cortez  summed  up  their  motives  in  a 
single  sentence  when  he  told  the  Mexicans:  "We  Spaniards  are 
troubled  with  a  disease  of  the  heart  for  which  we  find  gold,  and 
gold  only,  a  specific  remedy." 

22.  French  explorations ;  Huguenot  colonies  planted  at  the  South. 
But  a  party  of  Frenchmen  dared  to  dispute  the  claims  of  Spain 
to   the  exclusive   possession  of  the    North   American  continent. 
Cartier  had  already  discovered  and  explored  the  St.  Lawrence 
(1535),  and  had  named  a  lofty  hill  on  an  island  in  that  river 
Montreal.     Not  quite  thirty  years  later  (1562)  Admiral  Coligny, 
the  champion  of  the  French  Protestants,  sent  out  a  number  of 
Huguenot  emigrants  to  plant  a  colony  at  the  South.    Their  object 
was  to  build  up  a  Protestant  commonwealth  at  Port  Royal,  on  the 
coast  of  what  is  now  South  Carolina.     The  attempt  failed.     Two 
years  later  a  new  Huguenot  colony  settled  near  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  John's  River,  Florida,  and  built  Fort  Caroline.     Here  they 
were  joined  by  Jean  Ribaut  with  reenforcements. 

23.  Philip   II   sends  Menendez  to  exterminate  the   Huguenot 
colonists;  St.  Augustine;  the  massacre;  De  Gourgues'  revenge. 
Philip  II  of  Spain  was  startled  by  hearing  of  these  trespassers  on 


1 8  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1565-1567 

his  American  dominions.  French  pirates  had  (1555)  burned  the 
Spanish  settlement  of  Havana  and  butchered  all  of  the  inhabit 
ants.  Philip  was  eager  for  revenge ;  he  was  resolved  to  show 
no  mercy  to  men  who  in  his  eyes  were  not  only  intruders,  but 
"  heretics."  Pedro  Menendez  was  sent  over  with  a  fleet  to  deal 
summarily  with  the  Huguenots. 

Menendez  arrived  in  time  to  catch  sight  of  Ribaut's  vessels, 
but  could  not  overtake  them.  He  then  dropped  down  to  a 
point  about  forty  miles  south,  where  he  erected  a  fort  (1565), 
and  thus  laid  the  foundations  of  St.  Augustine,  the  oldest  city 
built  by  white  men  on  the  North  American  continent. 

Ribaut,  leaving  a  small  garrison  to  hold  Fort  Caroline,  sailed 
to  attack  the  Spaniards,  but  his  fleet  was  wrecked  on  the  coast. 
Menendez  heard  of  the  disaster,  marched  rapidly  across  the 
country,  surprised  Fort  Caroline,  and  killed  most  of  the  French  in 
their  beds.  The  women  and  children  were  spared.  The  story 
of  this  massacre  reached  France  ;  it  was  reported  that  Menendez 
had  hanged  a  number  of  the  garrison,  and  had  written  above 
their  swinging  corpses  :  "  I  do  this  not  as  to  Frenchmen  but 
as  to  Lutherans." 

On  his  return  from  Fort  Caroline  Menendez  fell  in  with  some 
of  Ribaut's  shipwrecked  men.  Trusting  to  the  Spaniard's  mercy, 
they  surrendered  ;  their  hands  were  tied  behind  their  backs,  they 
were  marched  to  St.  Augustine,  and  all,  except  a  few  sailors  who 
professed  to  be  Catholics,  were  put  to  death.  A  little  later 
Ribaut  himself,  with  some  of  his  soldiers,  was  discovered.  Part 
of  them,  including  the  captain,  surrendered.  They  were  told 
that  they  must  die.  "We  are  of  the  earth,"  said  Ribaut,  "and 
to  earth  we  shall  return  —  twenty  years  more  or  less  matters 
little."  All  were  stabbed  to  the  heart.  Afterward  some  of  the 
French  who  had  evaded  pursuit  were  captured.  Their  lives  were 
spared,  but  they  were  sent  to  the  galleys,  a  fate  more  cruel  than 
death  itself. 

France  made  no  attempt  to  retaliate,  but  two  years  later 
(1567)  Captain  De  Gourgues,  said  to  have  been  a  French 


0 


A 


C 


0 


MAP    SHOWING    THE    EARLY    VOYAGES    TO    AMERICA 
WITH    THE    FIRST    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  heavy  black  coast  line  indicates  what  parts  of 
the  two  continents  were  then  known. 


157G-1584]     EXPLORING  AND  COLONIZING  AMERICA       19 

Catholic,  sailed  from  France  and  captured  the  Spanish  fort  on 
the  St.  John's.  He  hanged  his  prisoners  on  the  same  tree  which 
it  was  said  Menendez  had  used  for  executing  his  French  captives. 
Over  their  bodies  he  placed  this  inscription  :  "  I  do  this  not  as 
to  Spaniards,  but  as  to  traitors,  robbers,  and  murderers."  Not 
daring  to  attack  St.  Augustine,  De  Gourgues  returned  to  France 
leaving  Spain  supreme  in  America. 

24.  The  English  search  for  a  northwest  passage  to  India; 
Drake's  voyage ;  Gilbert ;  Raleigh.  But  soon  a  more  formidable 
rival  than  the  French  appeared  on  the  scene  to  contest  the 
Spanish  monopoly  of  North  America.  Frobisher,  the  English 
navigator  (1576-1578),  made  great  efforts  to  discover  a  north 
western  passage  to  Asia.  A  little  later  (1579)  sir  Francis 
Drake,  in  his  voyage  around  the  world,  landed  on  the  northern 
Pacific  coast.  He  took  possession  of  the  country  for  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  named  it  New  Albion.  The  English,  however, 
made  no  attempt  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  western  coast,  but  a 
few  years  afterward  (1583)  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  claimed  New 
foundland  for  the  British  crown.  His  intention  was  to  colonize 
the  country,  but  he  was  lost  at  sea. 

The  year  following  (1584),  Walter  Raleigh,  a  half  brother  of 
Sir  Humphrey,  obtained  a  charter  from  Elizabeth  giving  him  the 
right  to  lay  claim  to  any  land  in  the  west  "  not  actually  possessed 
by  any  Christian  prince."  Raleigh's  charter  guaranteed  to  all 
subjects  of  the  queen  who  should  settle  under  it  the  same  rights 
and  privileges  which  they  enjoyed  at  home.  Burke  says  of 
Raleigh:  "He  was  the  first  man  in  England  who  had  a  right 
conception  of  settlements  abroad."  His  object  was  to  found  an 
English  colonial  empire  in  America,  and  to  put  "  a  bridle  on  the 
king  of  Spain,"  —  England's  most  formidable  enemy. 

25.  Raleigh  and  Virginia;  products  of  Virginia;  the  lost  colony ; 
the  results.  Raleigh  sent  out  an  exploring  expedition  (1584)- 
The  men  landed  on  Roanoke  Island  and  brought  back  such  glow 
ing  accounts  of  the  "  good  land  "  that  Elizabeth  called  it  Virginia 
and  rewarded  Raleigh  with  knighthood.  By  1606  the  name 


20  THE    STUDENT'S    AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1686-1587 

Virginia  was  given  to  the  entire  coast  from  34°  to  45°,  —  in  other 
words,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  to  the  Bay  of 
Fundy.  The  next  year  (1585)  Raleigh  sent  out  a  body  of 
colonists,  but  they  soon  came  back.  They  had,  however,  dis 
covered  an  Indian  herb  which  the  poet  Spenser  called  "  divine 
tobacco."  They  had  also  found  certain  round  "roots"  which 
"being  boiled  are  very  good  food." 

Sir  Walter  planted  the  Indian  herb  and  the  round  "roots" 
in  his  garden  at  Youghal  near  Cork,  Ireland.  By  his  efforts  the 
potato,  the  most  valuable  vegetable  known  to  man,  and  tobacco, 
denounced  by  King  James  as  "  the  vilest  of  weeds,"  were  intro 
duced  into  use  in  the  British  Isles. 

Not  disheartened  by  the  failure  of  his  first  attempt  to  establish 
a  settlement  in  Virginia,  Sir  Walter  sent  out  emigrants  (1587) 
to  form  another.  This  colony  mysteriously  disappeared  and  no 
trace  of  it  was  ever  found,  save  the  name,  Croatoan,  which  the 
colonists  had  cut  on  the  bark  of  a  tree  when  they  left  their 
settlement  never  to  return. 

Though  Sir  Walter's  enterprise  failed,  the  idea  survived,  and 
was  successfully  carried  out  later  by  a  company  of  London  mer 
chants.  Raleigh  believed  that  he  should  live  to  see  an  "  English 
nation  "  founded  in  the  New  World.  He  was  not  disappointed. 
His  memorial  window  in  the  church  of  St.  Margaret  near  West 
minster  Abbey  commemorates  the  fact  that  he  "  laid  the  corner 
stone  of  the  American  Republic." 

26.  The  American  Indians ;  l  their  character ;  their  numbers. 
Before  proceeding  to  the  work  of  Raleigh V  successors,  let  us 
consider  the  subject  of  the  Indians  and  their  influence  on  the 
history  of  our  country. 

The  Indians  that  Columbus  met  in  the  West  Indies  were  usually 
gentle,  timid,  and  easily  enslaved  by  Europeans.  But  no  colonist 
ever  accused  the  northern  Indians  of  excessive  meekness  of  spirit. 
In  bloodthirsty  ferocity  and  bulldog  tenacity  an  Algonquin  — 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  I,  ch.  v;  Parkman's  Pontiac,  I,  ch.  i;  Morgan's  League 
of  the  Iroquois ;  Ellis'  The  Red  Man  and  the  White  Man ;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  7-19, 


1492-]      EXPLORING  AND   COLONIZING   AMERICA          21 

or,  still  better,  an  Iroqiiois  —  was  a  match  for  the  most  brutal 
Spaniard  that  ever  set  foot  on  the  shores  of  the  New  World. 

The  entire  Indian  population  east  of  the  Mississippi  probably 
fell  short  of  two  hundred  thousand.  The  same  area  to-day 
supports  a  white  population  of  over  fifty  millions. 

Like  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  the  red  men  possessed  the 
country  without  occupying  it.  They  required  vast  solitudes  in 
which  to  seek  their  game.  This  was  the  more  necessary  because 
the  dog  was  their  only  domestic  animal. 

The  Indians  cultivated  some  small  patches  of  corn  and 
tobacco.  But  this  area  of  cultivation  remained  nearly  stationary, 
since  the  size  of  the  cornfield  which  a  squaw  could  work  over 
with  her  clam-shell  hoe  could  never  be  very  great  when  measured 
by  the  vigorous  appetites  of  a  healthy  Indian  family. 

27.  Influence  of  the  character  of  the  Indians  on  the  early  settlers. 
It  was  perhaps  fortunate  for  the  future  of  America  that  the 
Indians  of  the  North  rejected  civilization.  Had  they  accepted 
it,  the  whites  and  Indians  might  have  intermarried  to  some  extent 
as  they  did  in  Mexico.  That  would  have  given  us  a  population 
made  up  in  a  measure  of  shiftless  half-breeds. 

It  was  fortunate,  too,  that  the  Indians  whom  the  English 
colonists  encountered  were  generally  warlike.  Had  they  been 
peaceful  and  submissive,  the  white  settlers  would  probably  have 
reduced  them  to  slavery, — as  they  did  in  the  West  Indies.  That 
would  have  struck  a  serious  blow  at'  the  habits  of  personal  industry 
and  of  self-help  acquired  by  the  colonists. 

The  fact  that  the  red  man  was  intractable,  independent,  and 
fond  of  fighting  prevented  the  great  body  of  settlers  from  spread 
ing  rapidly  over  the  country.  It  compelled  them  to  live  in  a 
tolerably  compact  line  along  the  coast,  made  them  vigilant, 
exercised  them  in  the  art  of  war,  and  made  union  for  self-defense 
a  necessity.  When  later  the  English  settlers  had  to  fight  the 
Canadian  French,  this  training  in  arms,  forced  upon  them  by 
conflicts  with  the  Indians,  came  into  effective  play  and  had 
decisive  results  on  the  future  of  America. 


22  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1492- 

28.  The  indebtedness  of  the  colonists  to  the  Indians  for  food  and 
clothing.    The   relations  in  which   the   aborigines   stood  to   the 
colonists  as  friends  or  enemies  had  important  economic  results. 
The   first  and   greatest  need   of  the  colonists  was  an  abundant 
supply  of  food.     The  chief  American  cereal  was  Indian  corn. 
It  did  not  grow  in  Europe,  and  no  Englishman  ever  saw  a  field 
of  it  before   coming    to    this    country.      The   red    men    taught 
the  Virginia  settlers   how   to  raise  corn  in  an  uncleared   forest 
by  simply  girdlir.g  the  trees  and  so  letting  in  the  sunlight.     In 
Plymouth  the  Indians  showed  the  Pilgrims  how  to  make  their 
corn  grow  by  putting  a  fish,  as  a  fertilizer,  in  every  hill.     They 
showed  them,  too,  how  to  make  maple  sugar,  and  how  to  spear 
fish  through  the  ice  in  winter  and  pack  them  in  snow  till  wanted ; 
that  was  the  Indian's  "cold  storage"  system. 

From  them  the  settlers  learned  to  tan  deerskins  for  clothing, 
to  make  moccasins,  snowshoes,  and  birch-bark  canoes,  —  all 
articles  of  indispensable  use  in  the  American  wilderness. 

29.  Value  of  wampum ;  Indian  labor ;  trade  with  the  Indians. 
Next  to  food  and  clothing  one  of  the  greatest  wants  felt  by  the 
colonists  was  some  medium  of  exchange  for  carrying  on  trade 
with  the  natives.    The  Indians  themselves  met  this  want  by  their 
wampum   or  shell  money.     For  many  years  this  currency  was 
practically  well-nigh  the  only  one  in  use  in  certain  parts  of  the 
English  settlements.     It  proved  a  most  important  factor  in  trad 
ing  with  the  natives.    The  settlers  also  used  it  among  themselves. 
They  bought  merchandise,  hired  labor,  and  sometimes  paid  the 
salaries  of  their  schoolmasters  and  ministers  or   their  tax  bills 
with  clam-shell  money. 

Again,  it  was  the  Indians  who  first  enabled  the  whites  to  open 
commerce  with  the  mother  country.  Fish  and  furs  were  always 
in  demand  in  England;  the  red  men  were  experts  in  trapping 
beaver,  catching  codfish,  and  in  whaling;  on  this  account  the 
colonists  found  it  profitable  to  hire  their  services. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Indians  were  excellent  customers  for 
the  hoes,  knives,  hatchets,  blankets,  muskets,  ammunition,  and 


II 


24  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1492- 

rum  which  the  colonists  offered  for  sale.  With  iron  hoes  the 
natives  could  raise  a  much  greater  quantity  of  corn,  and  Governor 
Bradford  states  that  the  Narragansetts  offered  for  sale  from  five 
hundred  to  a  thousand  bushels  at  a  time. 

30.  Indian  trails  and  waterways;1   fur-trading  posts.     When 
the  colonists  had  grown  so  strong  that  they  had  begun  to  develop 
an  inland  commerce,  the  Indian  proved   helpful  in  a  different 
direction.     In  the  course  of  centuries  of  travel   the  red   man's 
feet  had  worn  trails  through  the  forests.     The  settlers  took  the 
hint  and  often  laid  out  their  roads  on  the  line  of  these  trails. 
In  the  state  of  New  York  the  turnpike,  the  Erie  Canal,  and  the 
New  York  Central   Railway,  running  nearly  side  by  side  from 
Albany  to  Buffalo,  follow  the  great  Iroquois  Trail  extending  from 
the  Hudson  to  Lake  Erie.     In  America  the  Indian  was  the  first 
road  surveyor  (see  map  facing  page  22). 

The  waterways  and  portages  or  carrying  places  of  the  Indians 
were  as  valuable  to  the  colonists  as  their  trails.  By  means  of 
their  light  birch  canoes  the  natives  could  pass  from  the  Great 
Lakes  to  the  Atlantic  on  the  one  hand  and  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
on  the  other.  They  transported  immense  quantities  of  furs  from 
the  interior  to  the  seacoast  for  shipment  to  Europe.  Merchan 
dise  and  household  goods  were  carried  inland  in  the  same  way. 
Over  this  great  network  of  waterways  the  Indians  were  our  first 
pilots.  The  fur-trading  posts  in  the  West  marked  the  sites  of  what 
became  important  settlements.  Detroit,  Milwaukee,  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  and  other  western  cities  began  in  this  way. 

31.  The  Indians  claim  the  continent;    Indian  wars.     The  red 
men  claimed  the  American  continent  as  their  own.     They  held 
their  lands  not  by  private  ownership,  but  by  tribal  tenure.     If 
they  disposed  of  a  tract,  they  seem  to  have  considered  in  many 
cases  that  they  still  retained  some  kind  of  interest  in  it.     This 
naturally  caused  disputes.     The  English  colonists  got  their  lands 
of  the  Indians  by  purchase,  force,  or  fraud.     Often  the  settlers 

1  See  Semple's  American  History  and  its  Geographic  Conditions,  and  Hulbert's 
The  Red  Men's  Roads. 


1492-]       EXPLORING  AND  COLONIZING  AMERICA          25 

bought  the  soil  at  a  fair  price.  In  other  cases  they  deliberately 
drove  the  natives  from  their  homes  and  hunting  grounds,  or 
shamefully  cheated  them  out  of  their  possessions  by  some  cun 
ning  trick,  such  as  the  "Walking  Purchase"  swindle  in  1737 

(§  i44). 

The  result  of  unfair  treatment  was  war,  and  war  accompanied 
by  all  the  hideous  acts  of  cruelty  in  which  the  Indians  took  delight. 
But  the  increase  of  the  white  settlers  made  conflict  with  the 
Indians  well-nigh  inevitable.  The  interests  of  the  two  races  were 
to  a  certain  extent  antagonistic.  The  white  man  wanted  to  clear 
the  land,  —  in  fact,  had  to  clear  it  in  order  to  live ;  the  Indian 
wanted  to  retain  the  primeval  wilderness  as  a  game  preserve. 
Every  tree  which  the  settler's  ax  felled  was  a  sign  to  the  red 
man  that  he  must  sooner  or  later  move  farther  west  or  starve. 
Hence  it  is  that,  down  to  a  comparatively  late  period,  Indian 
wars  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  our  history. 

32.  Our  alliances  with  the  Indians;  the  Iroquois,   or  "Five 
Nations."    Our  alliances  with  the  Indians  were  often  as  important 
as  our  wars  with  them.     It  was  largely  through  the  help  of  the 
Iroquois  that  the  English  prevented  the  Canadian  French  from 
getting  possession  of  New  York. 

Again,  the  English,  through  the  Indians  of  New  York,  obtained 
*|  their  first  real  treaty-hold  "  on  the  rich  country  west  of  the 
Alleghenies,  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Great  Lakes.  Those 
Indians  claimed  that  region  by  reason  of  their  conquests  over  other 
tribes.  By  a  treaty  made  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania  (1744),  the 
Iroquois  ceded  all  their  western  lands  to  the  king  of  England. 

When  the  French  claimed  that  vast  and  fertile  region  by  right 
of  discovery  and  exploration,  England  replied,  in  behalf  of  her 
American  colonies,  that  the  territory  was  already  hers  by  virtue 
of  the  Lancaster  Indian  treaty.  Whether  the  Iroquois  cession 
was  valid  or  not,  it  was  believed  to  be  so,  and  it  helped  to  open 
the  way  for  the  future  growth  of  the  English  colonies  in  the  West. 

33.  Summary  of  our  relations  with  the  Indians.    We  may  sum 
marize  our  relations  with  the  Indians  as  economic  and  political, 


26  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1492- 

Under  the  first  head  we  find  that :  ( i )  the  Indians  taught  the 
settlers  how  to  grow  corn  and  thus  supply  themselves  with  an 
inexhaustible  quantity  of  food;  (2)  they  helped  them  to  open 
up  a  highly  profitable  European  trade  in  furs  and  fish ;  (3)  they 
furnished  the  first  currency  for  obtaining  supplies  to  carry  on  that 
trade;  (4)  the  Indian  trails  and  waterways  became  permanent 
means  of  communication  to  the  settlers,  and  the  fur-trading 
posts  often  grew  into  thriving  cities. 

Under  the  second  head  we  find  that:  (i)  the  necessity  of 
defense  against  hostile  tribes  induced  the  colonists  to  keep 
together,  and  trained  them  in  war ;  (2)  alliances  formed  with  the 
powerful  Iroquois  confederacy  of  New  York  served  as  a  barrier 
against  the  designs  of  the  Canadian  French,  and  thus  favored  the 
unity  and  continued  growth  of  the  English  colonies ;  (3)  through 
a  treaty  made  with  the  Iroquois  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  the 
English  obtained  a  formal  title  to  the  lands  beyond  the  Alle- 
ghenies ;  thus  they  secured  room  for  expansion  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  hold  on  the  West. 

34.  Effects  of  the  discovery  of  America  on  Europe,  i.  The 
success  of  Columbus  gave  rise  to  voyages  of  exploration  and 
opened  new  fields  for  commerce.  Spain  rapidly  rose,,  through  the 
supply  of  precious  metals  she  obtained  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  to 
be  the  most  powerful  nation  in  Europe.  The  large  amount  of 
gold  and  silver  thus  brought  into  circulation  in  the  Old  World 
stimulated  rival  nations  to  send  out  expeditions  to  conquer  and 
colonize  empires  in  America. 

In  England  and  on  the  continent  the  increase  of  the  pre 
cious  metals  frequently  enabled  the  peasantry,  who  paid  a  fixed 
money  rent,  to  become  owners  of  the  lands  they  cultivated. 
Many  emigrants  of  the  best  class  who  came  to  this  coun 
try  from  England  sprang  from  that  thrifty  and  industrious 
peasantry. 

2.  The  Spaniards  who  settled  the  West  Indies  at  first  enslaved 
the  Indians ;  but  finding  that  negroes  were  far  more  profitable 
as  laborers,  they  gradually  introduced  African  slavery  into  those 


1492-]       EXPLORING  AND  COLONIZING  AMERICA          2/ 

islands,  After  the  English  planted  colonies  on  the  mainland, 
much  of  their  commerce  was  with  the  West  Indies.  Interference 
with  this  trade  by  the  British  government  was  one  cause  of  the 
American  Revolution. 

3.  North  America  gave  Europe  new  food  products  of  inesti 
mable  value.    Chief  among  them  stand  the  potato  and  Indian  corn. 
Besides  these  the  cod  fisheries  of  Newfoundland  furnished  the 
poorer  classes  with  inexhaustible  supplies  of  that  cheap  and  well- 
known  fish.     America  also  in  time  supplied  Europe  with  such 
luxuries  as  cocoa  and  tobacco.     Columbus  found  cotton  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  carried  back  with  him  cloth  manufactured  from 
it  by  the  natives.    Sugar,  rice,  and  cotton  had  long  been  produced 
in  the  East  Indies,  but  their  high  price  in  Europe  made  them 
the  luxuries  of  the  rich.    Now  they  were  discovered  growing  wild 
in  America.     Eventually  their  cultivation  in  the  southern  states 
made  them  so  cheap  that  they  came  into  general  use  throughout 
the  civilized  world. 

4.  But  the  crowning  result  of  the  discovery  of  America  was 
that  it  widened  the  intellectual  horizon  more  than  any  event  had 
ever  done  before.     Men  found  that  they  were  living  in  a  grander 
world  than  they  had  imagined.     New  possibilities,  new  oppor 
tunities  were  opened  to  them.     Hope  was  awakened,  enterprise 
stimulated.     "  If,"  says  Freeman,  the  eminent  English  historian, 
"  the  New  World  owes  its  being  to  the  Old  World,  the  Old  owes 
to  the  New  the  revival  and  expansion  of  its  being." 

At  best  the  Old  World  was  limited ;  men  knew  its  bounds  and 
its  resources.  There  progress  was  beset  with  difficulty;  but  no 
one  dared  to  fix  the  limits  of  America  or  say  what  marvels  it 
contained.  Here  certainly  was  room  for  all,  and  food  for  all. 
If  in  many  of  its  physical  aspects  —  its  soil  and  climate  —  it  was 
Europe  repeated,  still  it  was  repeated  on  a  colossal  scale,  with 
vaster  forests,  wider  prairies,  loftier  mountain  ranges,  grander 
lakes,  and  nobler  rivers.  Unlike  Europe,  America  fronts  on  two 
oceans ;  it  naturally  commands  the  trade  of  Europe  and  Africa 
on  the  one  side,  and  of  Asia  and  the  Indies  on  the  other. 


PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY   AND   HISTORY 

See,  in  general,  IVinsor's  America,  IV,  pp.  i-xxx  ;  Skater's  United  States;  S/ialer's 
Our  Continent ;  Semple's  A  merican  History  and  its  Geographic  Conditions ;  Brigham's 
Geographic  Influences  in  American  History. 

The  physical  geography  of  the  United  States  has  had  and  must  continue  to  have 
a  powerful  influence,  not  only  on  the  health  and  industry,  but  on  the  character  and 
progress  of  the  American  people. 

I.  The  English  colonies  were  planted  on  rivers  or  harbors  which  invited  settle 
ment  and  favored  their  commercial  intercourse  with  the  mother-country,  with  the 
West  Indies,  and  with  each  other  (see  §§  39  et  seq.,  and  173,  177,  178). 

II.  The  Appalachian  range  barred  the  West  against  the  colonists  and  confined 
them  to  a  long,  narrow  strip  bordering  on  the  sea.     This  limitation  of  soil  had  im 
portant  effects  on  the  occupations  and  the  exports  of  the  settlers,  while  it  encouraged 
the  development  of  union,  political  strength,  and  independence  (see  §§  173,  196). 

III.  The  Canadian  French,  on  the  other  hand,  having  control  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Great  Lakes,  soon  got  temporary  possession  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.    This 
led  to  a  war  which  ended  by  giving  the  West  to  the  English  colonists  (see  §  172). 

IV.  The  first  English-speaking  settlements  made  west  of  the  Alleghenies  were 
planted  on  the  Ohio  and  other  streams  flowing  into  the  Mississippi,  —  a  river  system 
35,000  miles  in  extent,  watering  the  great  central  valley  of  the  continent.    Later  the 
steamboat  made  that  vast  region  accessible  in  all  directions  (see  §§  137,  258). 

V.  After  the  colonies  secured  their  independence,  the  boundaries  of  the  Ameri 
can  Republic  were  fixed  by  successive  treaties.     These  boundaries  were  determined, 
to  a  great  extent,  by :  (i)  coastlines;  (2)  rivers  and  lakes  ;  (3)  watersheds;  (4)  moun 
tain  ranges.     In  1783  our  possessions  were  limited  by  the  Atlantic  and  the  Missis 
sippi;   in  1803  they  touched  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  in  1846 
they  reached  the  Pacific  (see  Table  of  Boundaries; . 

VI.  The  most  pressing  question  with  every  rapidly  growing  people  is  that  of 
food  supply.      Some  nations  of  Europe  —  notably  Great   Britain  — can  only  feed 
themselves  by  importing  provisions.     America  is  so  fortunate  in  soil,  climate,  and 
extent  of  territory,  that  the  people  produce  not  only  all  the  breadstuffs  and  meats 
they  require,  but  they  have  an  immense  surplus  for  exportation  (see  §§  421,  564). 

VII.  Next  in  importance  to  grain  and  meats  are  cotton,  wool,  timber,  coal,  petro 
leum,  iron,  copper,  and  the  precious  metals.     These  products  are  powerful  factors  in 
the  development  of  modern  civilization,  and  it  is  believed  that  no  continent  is  richer 
in  them  than  our  own  (see  §§  143,  406,  437,  564). 

VIII.  While  cotton  fastened  slavery  on  the  South,  the  abundant  water  power  of 
New  England  gave  the  first  impulse  to  American  cotton  manufacturing.     On  the 
other  hand,  the  western  prairies  stimulated  agriculture  and  immigration,  and  encour 
aged  the  building  of  railroads,  which  in  twenty  years  did  more  to  open  up  the  coun 
try  than  two  centuries  had  done  before.     Again,  physical  geography  has  influenced 
legislation  respecting  labor,  the  tariff,  trade,  currency,  and  the  building  of  roads,  rail 
ways,  and  canals;  furthermore,  it  determined  decisive  military  movements  in  the 
Revolution   (see  Washington's  retreat  across  the  Delaware,   §  212,  and  Greene's 
retreat,  §  230)  and  in  the  Civil  War  (see  §§  467,  468,  485-487). 

IX.  Experience  proves  that  the  physical  conditions  of  the  United  States  favor 
health,  vigor,  and  longevity.     Statistics  show  that  in  size  and  weight  the  American 
people  are  fully  equal,  if  not,  indeed,  superior,  to  Europeans,  while  their  average 
length  of  life  appears  to  be  somewhat  greater  (see  Rhodes'  United  States,  III,  73,  74). 

X.  The  conclusion  of  eminent  scientists  is  that  no  part  of  the  globe  is  better 
suited  to  the  requirements  of  one  of  the  master  races  of  the  world  than  the  United 
States,  and  such  statesmen  as  Lincoln  and  Gladstone  have  declared  their  belief  that 
this  country  has  a  natural  base  for  the  greatest  continuous  empire  ever  established 
by  man  (see  §  34). 

28 


30        THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY        [1492-ieoo 

Such  marked  geographical  features  necessarily  made  themselves 
felt  in  the  future  economical  and  political  history  of  the  country. 
These  influences  are  considered  on  pages  28-29  (see  map  with 
text). 

Possessed  of  these  physical  advantages,  America  seemed  to  invite 
all  classes  of  men  to  her  hospitable  shores.  She  seemed  to  say  : 
Come  here  and  be  free,  for  here  is  a  virgin  field  in  which  to  try 
not  only  all  experiments  in  the  development  of  material  resources, 
but  in  government  and  in  the  organization  of  society;  here,  in 
short,  is  a  New  World ;  you  shall  make  of  it  what  you  will. 

35.  Summary,  i.  In  1492  Columbus,  while  seeking  a  direct, 
all-water  route  to  the  Indies,  discovered  the  West  India  Islands 
and  opened  them  to  Spanish  occupation.  The  voyages  of 
Americus  Vespucius  suggested  the  name  America  for  the  New 
World.  By  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Spaniards 
had  discovered  Florida,  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Pacific,  explored 
parts  of  the  South  and  West,  made  a  settlement  at  St.  Augustine, 
Florida,  and  taken  possession  of  Mexico  and  New  Mexico. 

2.  Meanwhile  the  French  had  explored  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
made  an  attempt  to  get  a  foothold  in  the  South,  but  had  been 
driven  out  by  the  Spaniards. 

3.  In  1497  John  Cabot  first  discovered  the  continent  of  North 
America   and  claimed  possession  of  it  for  England.     In  the  next 
century  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  planted  English  settlements  in  Vir 
ginia,  but  they  were  soon  abandoned. 

4.  The  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  left  the  Spaniards  the 
sole  possessors  of  North  America.     So  far  as  could  then  be  seen, 
Spain,  and  Spain  alone,  was  destined  to  control  the  future  of  the 
territory  which  is  now  the  United  States. 


Ill 

PERMANENT  ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS 

(1600-1763) 

For  authorities  for  this  chapter,  see  footnotes  and  the  classified 
list  of  books  in  the  Appendix,  pagexxiv 

THE  THIRTEEN  COLONIES  1  —  FRENCH  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  — 
WARS  WITH  THE  INDIANS  AND  WITH  THE  FRENCH  —  GENERAL 
VIEW  OF  THE  COLONIES 

36.  English  trading  expeditions ;  the  fisheries;  Virginia  colonies 
planned.  Although  Raleigh's  attempt  to  plant  a  colony  in  Virginia 
failed  (§  25),  yet  the  English  continued  to  send  out  occasional  fish 
ing  and  fur- trading  expeditions  to  America.  By  1600  the  British 
Newfoundland  fisheries  employed  not  less  than  ten  thousand  men 
and  boys. 

Gosnold  (1602)  and  Weymouth  (1605)  made  voyages  to  that 
part  of  northern  Virginia  which  was  later  named  New  England, 
and  carried  back  favorable  accounts.  Two  commercial  com 
panies,  known  as  the  London  and  the  Plymouth  Companies,  were 
formed  in  England  to  plant  permanent  colonies  in  Virginia,  —  a 
territory  then  extending  from  Cape  Fear  to  Halifax. 

Several  reasons  prompted  this  undertaking  :  i .  The  Companies 
hoped  to  discover  mines  of  precious  metals  in  Virginia  or  to  find 
a  passage  to  the  Pacific  and  the  Indies. 

2.  It  was  believed  that  if  colonies  were  planted  in  Virginia  they 
would  draw  off  a  restless  class  of  disbanded  soldiers  and  of  young 

1  On  the  thirteen  colonies,  in  general,  see  Winsor's  America,  III-V ;  Hildreth's 
United  States,  I-II;  Thwaites'  Colonies;  Doyle's  English  in  .America,  3  vols.; 
Lodge's  Colonies ;  Eggleston's  Beginners  of  a  Nation ;  Macdonald's  Select  Charters. 

31 


32  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1606 

men  out  of  work,  —  then  numerous  in  England  ;  that  they  would 
employ  many  idle  vessels  in  carrying  out  emigrants  and  freight ; 
that  they  would  open  new  markets  for  English  goods ;  and,  finally, 
that  England  would  be  able  to  get  a  cheap  and  abundant  supply 
of  ship-timber,  tar,  and  rosin  from  her  American  colonies. 

3.  Some  of  the  promoters  of  the  enterprise  had  broader  views; 
they  looked  beyond  material  gains,  and  resolved  to  plant  great 
and  growing  colonies  in  Virginia  which  should  secure  to  England 
a  mighty  empire  in  America. 

But  the  plans  of  the  Companies  had  opponents.  Hume  says 
that  even  in  1606  there  were  Englishmen  who  thought  it  bad 
policy  to  plant  colonies  in  Virginia,  because  such  settlements 
"  after  draining  the  mother-country  of  inhabitants  would  soon 
shake  off  her  yoke  and  erect  an  independent  government" 


I.  VIRGINIA  (I6O7)1 

37.  The  Virginia  Charter  (1606);  appeal  to  that  charter.     The 

charter  '2  empowered  the  London  Company  to  establish  settle 
ments  in  southern  Virginia  anywhere  between  the  34th  and  38th 
degrees  of  north  latitude  (that  is,  between  Cape  Fear  and  the 
Potomac).  To  the  Plymouth  Company  the  king  by  the  same 
charter  granted  the  territory  in  northern  Virginia  between  the 
4ist  and  45th  degrees  of  north  latitude  (that  is,  between  the 
eastern  end  of  Long  Island  and  the  middle  of  Nova  Scotia). 
The  intervening  country  (38th  to  4ist  degrees),  embracing 
what  is  now  Maryland,  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  a  small  corner 
of  New  York,  was  open  to  colonization  by  either  company,  but 
neither  was  to  make  a  settlement  within  one  hundred  miles  of 
the  other. 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  v,  and  V,  ch.  iv ;  Thwaites'   Colonies,  ch.  iv  ; 
Brown's  Genesis  of  the  United  States;  and  the  First  Republic  in  America;  Eggle- 
ston's  Beginners  of  a  Nation;  Bruce's  Economic  History  of  Virginia;  Fiske's  Old 
Virginia;  Cooke's- Virginia. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  i. 


ENGLISH   AND    FRENCH    SETTLEMENTS 


33 


The  charter  provided :  (i)  that  each  grant  should  extend  one 
hundred  miles  inland;  (2)  that  the  territory  should  be  held  on 
the  most  favorable  terms.  It  was  to  be  free  of  all  military  service, 
and  of  all  taxation  by  the  king,  save  a  certain  reservation  (from 
a  fifth  to  a  fifteenth)  of  any  valuable  metals  which  might  be 
found ;  (3)  the  king  guaranteed  to  the  colonists  and  their  descend 
ants  the  same 
rights  and  privi 
leges  "  as  if  they 
had  been  abiding 
and  born  within 
this  our  realm  of 
England:' 

This  last  im 
portant  conces 
sion  did  not  go 
into  effect  until 
the  establish 
ment  of  the  Vir 
ginia  Assembly 
(1619)  ;  later  it 
had  an  unfore- 
seen  result. 
On  the  eve  of 
the  Revolution 
(1765),  the 

Virginians,  in  justifying  their  resistance  to  the  Stamp  Act,  appealed 
to  this  clause  of  the  original  charter.  They  declared  that  the 
first  settlers  "  brought  with  them,  and  transmitted  to  their  pos 
terity,  all  the  privileges  .  .  .  that  have  at  any  time  been  held  .  .  . 
by  the  people  of  Great  Britain." 

38.  Government  of  the  colony;  trial  by  jury;  religious  worship ; 
community  of  goods.  The  colony  was  to  be  governed  by  a  resi 
dent  council,  under  the  direction  of  a  higher  council  in  England, 
controlled  by  the  king. 


Grants  made  in  Virginia  (by 
charter  of  1606)  to  the 
London  and  the  Plymouth 
Companies.  These  grants 
extended  1 00  miles  in 
land. 


34  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1607 

Royal  instructions,1  following  the  charter,  granted  trial  by  jury 
in  capital  cases,  and  established  religious  worship  according  to  the 
usage  of  the  Church  of  England.  For  the  first  five  years  the  col 
onists  were  to  deposit  "  all  the  fruits  of  their  labor  "  in  the  Com 
pany's  storehouse ;  but  the  Company  was  to  supply  the  settlers 
with  food,  clothing,  and  other  necessaries. 

39.  Settlement  of  Jamestown  (1607) ;  Captain  John  Smith. 
In  1607  the  London  Company  sent  out  one  hundred  and  five 
emigrants  to  Virginia.  No  women  or  children  went.  Like  the 
California  pioneers  of  '49,  their  object  was  to  find  fortunes  in  the 
soil  of  the  New  World.  They  took  out  pickaxes  to  dig  for  gold. 
The  emigrants  had  particular  orders  to  search  for  mines  of  precious 
metals,  and  to  seek  for  a  passage  to  the  Pacific. 

The  colonists  landed  on  the  banks  of  a  river  which  they  named 
the  James  in  honor  of  the  king.  For  a  like  reason  they  named 
their  settlement  Jamestown  (1607).  Perhaps  the  ablest  man  in 
the  party  was  Captain  John  Smith.  He  became  one  of  the  gov 
ernors  of  the  colony  and  wrote  its  history. 

Most  of  the  settlers  belonged  to  a  class  in  England  who  were 
unused  to  manual  labor,  and  hence  wholly  unfit  to  struggle  with 
the  hardships  of  an  American  wilderness.  Sickness  carried  off 
many,  and  at  one  time  they  came  so  near  starving  that  it  was 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  the  breath  of  life  was  kept  in  the 
colony.  A  shipload  of  glittering  earth  which  they  sent  back  to 
London,  and  which  turned  out  to  be  not  gold  but  simply  yellow 
dirt,  completed  the  disgust  of  the  settlers. 

When  Smith  became  governor,  he  laid  down  the  scriptural  rule 
that  those  who  would  not  work  should  not  eat.  He  explored  and 
mapped  the  country  bordering  on  Chesapeake  Bay,  urged  the 
cultivation  of  corn,  and  endeavored  by  every  possible  means  to 
put  the  settlement  on  a  self-supporting  and  paying  basis.  Whether 
Pocahontas  saved  Captain  Smith's  life  or  not,  he  certainly  seems 
to  have  saved  Virginia. 

1  See  Brown's  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I,  67,  69;  Hildreth's  United  States, 
I,96. 


1609] 


ENGLISH   AND    FRENCH    SETTLEMENTS 


35 


40.  Provisions  of  the  new  charter  (1609).  Two  years  after  the 
settlement  of  Jamestown  the  king  granted  the  London  Company 
(1609)  a  new  charter.1  It  provided  : 

1.  That   the    government   of   the    colony    should    be    placed 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  council  in  England,  who  were  to  send 
out  a  governor  having  almost  absolute  power. 

2.  Virginia  was  now  made  to  extend  two  hundred  miles  north 
and  the  same  distance  south  of  Point  Comfort ;  "  west  and  north 
west  "  it  ran  "  from  sea  to  sea,"  that  is,  to  the  Pacific.2     Eventually 


Sea-to-sea  Charter 
Grants  from  I  609 


Virginia  made  the  "sea-to-sea"  clause  the  basis  for  her  claim  to 
the  greater  part  of  that  vast  region  which,  after  the  Revolution, 
came  to  be  called  the  "Northwest  Territory"  (§  237). 

3.  The  new  charter  forbade  any  emigrant's  settling  in  Vir 
ginia  unless  he  took  the  Oath  of  Supremacy  by  which  he  denied 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  pope.  This,  of  course,  shut  out 
Catholics. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  2.  2  Virginia  claimed  the  oblique 
line,  shown  on  the  map,  as  her  northwest  boundary.  In  1763  England,  by  the  Treaty 
of  Paris,  gave  up  her  claim  to  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  (§  172) ;  this  restricted 
the  western  land  claims  of  colonies  to  the  country  east  of  that  river  (§  236). 


36         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1609-1612 

At  that  time  each  of  the  leading  nations  of  Europe  maintained 
its  own  form  of  religion.  In  southern  Europe  the  established 
church  was  Catholic,  in  northern  Europe  it  was  Protestant.  When 
Spain  planted  her  colonies  in  America  she  naturally  excluded  Prot 
estants  ;  when  England  planted  hers,  she  just  as  naturally  excluded 
Catholics  (§23). 

41.  The   colonists   abandon   Jamestown;    Lord   Delaware;    Sir 
Thomas  Dale;  the  third  charter  (1612).    After  Smith's  return  to 
England  (1609)  the  colonists  became  so  disheartened  that  they 
abandoned  Jamestown  and  set  out  for  their  native  land.     At  that 
moment,  Lord  Delaware,  the  newly  appointed  governor,  arrived 
and  compelled  the  settlers  to  remain. 

Lord  Delaware  was  succeeded  (1611)  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  a 
stern  disciplinarian,  but  a  man  of  sound  sense.  He  allotted  three 
acres  of  land  to  each  colonist,  on  condition  that  he  should  deliver 
a  certain  quantity  of  corn  annually  to  the  keeper  of  the  common 
storehouse.  This  arrangement  had  a  most  happy  effect :  it  secured 
to  each  man  a  little  estate  of  his  own,  stimulated  industry,  and 
provided  a  reserve  supply  of  food  for  the  colony. 

A  year  later  (1612)  the  king  granted  to  the  Company  a  third 
and  final  charter.1  It  differed  from  the  preceding  ones  in  putting 
the  management  of  the  colony  into  the  hands  not  of  a  council, 
but  of  the  body  of  stockholders  in  England. 

42.  John  Rolfe  begins  the  cultivation  of  tobacco ;  results.    Not 
long  after   Governor   Dale's   administration  began,   John   Rolfe, 
who  married  Pocahontas,  planted  a  field  with  tobacco  (1612), 
which    he    sold    at   a  handsome   profit    in   England.      That  ex 
periment  decided  the  industrial  and  commercial  success  of  the 
colony.     Henceforth  every  man  that  could  turn  planter  did  so, 
and   began  raising  tobacco  for  the   English   market.     The   soil 
and  climate  of  Virginia  favored  the  new  culture,  and  the  nav 
igable  streams  emptying  into  Chesapeake  Bay  made  it  easy  for 
the  planters  to  ship  their  crop  almost  from  their  own  doors  direct 
to  London. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  3. 


1619]         ENGLISH   AND    FRENCH    SETTLEMENTS  37 

Notwithstanding  a  heavy  tax  imposed  on  this  product  by  the 
king,  the  demand  for  it  constantly  increased.  In  1619  the 
Virginians^xported  20,000  pounds  of  tobacco,  and  eight  years 
later  500,000.  Long  before  the  close  of  the  century  the  quan 
tity  sent  abroad  had  risen  (1670)  to  nearly  12,000,000  pounds 
(§48).  Charles  II  thought  that  the  use  of  the  weed  would  be 
of  short  duration,  and  declared  that  the  prosperity  of  Virginia  was 
"wholly  built  upon  smoke";  but  from  that  "smoke"  England 
derived,  and  still  derives,  a  goodly  part  of  her  revenue. 

In  Virginia  tobacco  became  (1620)  the  legal  currency,  and 
planters  paid  their  tavern  bills  and  their  taxes  in  rolls  or  hogs 
heads  of  it.  Later  the  Legislature  enacted  laws  stinting  the 
quantity  of  the  plant  which  a  farmer  might  raise,  and  compelling 
him  to  devote  a  certain  number  of  acres  to  corn.  These  laws 
were  necessary  to  prevent  over-production  in  the  one  case,  and 
to  provide  food  in  the  other. 

Economically,  politically,  and  socially  the  cultivation  of  tobacco 
had  results  of  the  highest  importance. 

1.  It   encouraged  the   immigration   of  a  class    of   thrifty  and 
industrious  colonists  who  saw  in  Virginia  a  gold  mine  which  they 
could  work  with  a  hoe. 

2.  It  induced  the  exportation  from  England  of  thousands  of 
"indented  apprentices,"  who  were  bound  to  the  planters  for  a 
number  of  years.     Part  of  them   came  voluntarily;   part  were 
kidnapped  in  English  ports  and  shipped  to  Virginia  against  their 
will.     In  some  instances,  convicts  known  as  "jail  birds"  were 
sent  over  by  order  of  the  king.     By  a  later  act  of  Parliament 
convicts  might  be  sent  to  any  of  the  American  colonies,  though 
the  greater  part  seem  to  have  been  transported  to  the  West  Indies. 
Most  of  these  apprentices  and  their  descendants  became  what  were 
known  as  "  poor  whites,"  or  "  scrubs."    Occasionally  a  remarkable 
man  sprang  from  these  people.     In  modern  times  "Stonewall" 
Jackson  was  one,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  says  that  he  was  another. 

3.  The  demand  for  cheap  and  permanent  laborers  for  raising 
tobacco  led  directly  to  the  introduction  (1619)  of  negro  slavery. 


38  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1619- 

4.  The   plantations,  by  scattering   the   population   over   large 
areas,  checked  the  growth  of  towns  and  of  public  schools;  but 
they  were  highly  favorable  to  the  creation  of  a  we]Ro-do  and 
high-spirited  rural  aristocracy,  who  lived  on  their  estates  much 
after  the  fashion  of  the  county  aristocracy  of  England. 

5.  Finally,  although  tobacco  exhausted  the  soil,  and  in  time 
compelled  the  planters  to  abandon  their  old  farms  and  take  new 
ones,  yet  this  staple  first  placed  Virginia  on  a  solid  financial  basis, 
and  ensured  the  success  of  the  colony. 

43.  Establishment  of  the  Virginia  Assembly ;  Virginia  loses 
her  charter;  suffrage;  power  of  the  Assembly  (1619);  local 
government.  A  majority  of  the  Virginia  Company  in  England 
were  members  of  the  Liberal  party  of  that  day.  In  their  sym 
pathy  for  popular  liberty  they  resolved  to  give  the  colonists  the 
power  to  enact  laws  so  "that  they  might  have  a  hand  in  governing 
themselves." 

Acting  under  orders  from  the  Company,  Governor  Yeardley 
called  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  eleven  boroughs  or  towns  of 
Virginia  to  elect  two  representatives  from  each  borough  to  meet 
with  him  and  his  council.  In  accordance  with  that  summons  the 
first  American  Legislature  assembled  in  the  church  at  Jamestown 
in  the  summer  of  1619.  Tha4-  body  had  full  power  to  make  all 
needful  "  general  laws,"  but  no  law  was  to  be  in  force  unless 
approved  by  the  governor  and  "  solemnly  ratified  "  by  the  Vir 
ginia  Company  in  England.  The  meeting  of  that  House  of 
/Burgesses,  or  Assembly,  marks  the  beginning  of  local  self-govern- 
Vjsnent  on  the  American  continent. 

At  first  all  free  men  had  the  right  to  vote  for  members  of  the 
Assembly,  but  later  (1670)  it  was  enacted  that  in  accordance 
with  English  law  and  custom  none  but  householders  and  owners 
of  real  estate  should  have  "a  voice  in  the  election  of  any  burgesses 
in  this  country." 

In  1621  the  Company  gave  the  colonists  an  ordinance  and  con 
stitution,1  confirming  their  right  to  a  legislative  assembly.  A 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  6. 


1619]  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  39 

little  later  the  burgesses  enacted  (1623)  that  the  governor  should 
not  "  lay  any  taxes  .  .  .  upon  the  colony  .  .  .  other  than  by  the 
authority  of  the  General  Assembly."  This  enactment  had  the 
effect  of  making  the  Assembly  the  real  ruling  power. 

The  stockholders  of  the  Virginia  Company  fell  into  disputes,  and 
the  king  took  advantage  of  the  fact  to  annul  the  charter  (1624)  and 
make  the  colony  a  royal  province ;  but  this  change  did  not  affect  the 
Assembly.  The  local  government  of  the  province  was  carried  on  by 
parish  committees,  who  taxed  the  people  for  the  support  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  and  for  the  poor.  The  counties  were  governed 
by  officers  appointed  by  the  royal  governor.  These  officers  levied 
taxes  to  build  highways  and  for  other  purposes.  The  general  ex 
penses  of  the  province  were  met  by  taxes  levied  by  the  Assembly. 

In  time  local  government  throughout  the  South  came  to  resem 
ble  that  of  Virginia,  —  especially  in  the  county  system. 

44.  The  beginning  of  African  slavery  in  Virginia  (1619);  in 
dented  servants.  Not  long  after  the  meeting  of  the  first  Ameri 
can  legislature  an  event  occurred  which  John  Rolfe,  the  tobacco 
planter,  thus  records  :  "  About  the  last  of  August  (1619)  came  in 
a  Dutch  man-of-war  that  sold  us  twenty  Negars."  The  purchase 
of  that  score  of  kidnapped  Africans  fastened  slavery  on  Virginia 
and  on  the  United  States. 

No  one  then  thought  it  any  more  harm  to  buy  a  negro  than  to 
buy  a  horse.  The  laws  of  Moses  were  believed  to  sanction  traffic 
in  human  beings,  and  the  attorney-general  of  England  declared 
that  "  negroes  being  pagans  might  justly  be  bought  and  sold." 
The  English  sovereigns  shared  in  the  profits  of  the  trade  and  en 
couraged  the  Virginians  to  buy  as  many  black  men  as  they  could 
pay  for.  Before  the  American  Revolution  every  one  of  the  thirteen 
colonies  held  more  or  less  slaves. 

But  the  increase  of  negroes  in  Virginia  was  very  slow,  since 
planters  of  small  means  found  it  far  cheaper  to  employ  the  labor 
of  indented  white  servants  or  of  convicts ;  for  both  classes  came 
over  from  England  in  large  numbers.  Later  a  statute  (1662) 
made  slavery  hereditary,  not  only  for  negroes,  but  for  mulattoes, 


40  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1021 

by  providing  that  all  children  born  in  this  country  should  be  held 
bond  or  free,  "  according  to  the  condition  of  the  mother."  l 

45 .  Attempts  to  check  the  importation  of  slaves ;   growth  of 
slavery.    Eventually  the  Virginians  became  alarmed  at  the  rapid 
increase  of  slaves  and  endeavored  to  check  their  importation,  but 
the   English   Parliament  refused   to  allow  any  restriction  on  so 
lucrative  a  trade.     George   Mason   of  Virginia  declared  in  the 
Federal   Congress   that   "  this   infernal    traffic   originated   in   the 
avarice  of  British  merchants,"  and  Jefferson,  in  his  first  draft  of 
the   Declaration  of   Independence,  made   the  king's  encourage 
ment  of  the  slave  trade  one  of  the  reasons  which  justified  the 
colonies  in  separating  from  the  mother-country. 

But  although  Jefferson,  Washington,  and  other  leading  Vir 
ginians  (who  were  themselves  slaveholders)  advocated  gradual 
emancipation,  yet  the  majority  of  the  planters  opposed  it.  The 
Federal  Constitution  expressly  protected  property  in  slaves  (see 
Appendix,  pages  x  (§  9),  xiv  (§  2)),  and  the  invention  of  the 
cotton  gin  made  the  cultivation  of  cotton  enormously  profitable 
(§  259).  Slavery  thereby  gained  a  commercial  and  political 
importance  which  made  it  for  more  than  two  generations  the 
"central  problem  of  American  history." 

46.  Importation  of  women ;    results ;    Plymouth  Colony ;    the 
situation.    But  though   Virginia  was   becoming   prosperous,   the 
colony  still  lacked  one  element  without  which  no  colony  could 
hope  to  thrive.     Very  few  women  had  emigrated  to  Jamestown. 
The  Virginia  Company  resolved  to  remedy  the  deficiency  and  sent 
(1619)  ninety  "young,  handsome,  and  honestly  educated  maids 
...  to  be  disposed  in  marriage  to  the  most  honest  and  indus 
trious  planters  who  are  to  defray  .  .  .  the  charges  of  their  pas 
sages."  2     The  charge  was  from  120  to  150  pounds  of  the  best 
leaf  tobacco.     Never  was  that  plant  put  to  better  use. 

When  the  women  came,  homes  began  in  this  part  of  the  New 
World.  Husband,  wife,  children,  —  these  threefold  bonds  made 
the  little  Virginian  commonwealth  sure  of  its  future. 

1  See  Hildreth's  United  States,  I,  518. 

2  See  Neill's  Virginia  Company,  262;  Channing's  United  States,  I,  209. 


1632-J  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS        41 

Five  hundred  miles  to  the  northeast  a  band  of  Pilgrims  had 
recently  (1620)  planted  a  second  English  colony.  They  brought 
their  families  with  them,  —  they  too  had  homes.  The  children 
bom  in  these  two  settlements,  at  Plymouth  Rock  and  on  the 
James  River,  would  call  this  country,  and  not  England,  their 
native  land ;  in  that  way  America  would  come  to  be  a  sacred 
name,  and  mean  what  it  had  never  meant  before. 

Here  then  was  the  situation  in  1621  :  in  Florida  a  few 
hundred  Spaniards  held  a  fort  (St.  Augustine)  on  the  coast;  at 
Quebec  a  small  number  of  French  Catholics,  who  had  gone 
there  in  1608,  held  another  fort;  on  the  Hudson  River  a  thrifty 
colony  of  Dutch  traders  had  established  themselves  since  1614. 

In  New  England  and  Virginia  there  were  two  little  settlements 
of  English  people.  Of  these  four  rival  colonies  the  English  homes 
alone  were  the  abodes  of  men  who  made  their  own  local  laws  and 
levied  their  own  internal  taxes  (§§  43,  82).  In  that  fact  may  be 
seen  the  germ  of  American  independence. 

47.  Virginia  loses  part  of  her  territory;  civil  war  in  England  ; 
Cavaliers ;  loyalty  of  Virginia.  After  Virginia  lost  her  charter 
(§43)  she  also  lost  part  of  her  territory  through  the  king's  grant 
(1632)  of  Maryland  on  the  north  and  (1663)  of  the  Carolinas 
on  the  south. 

Shortly  after  Charles  I  appointed  Sir  William  Berkeley  governor 
of  Virginia  (1642)  civil  war  broke  out  in  England;  the  Puritan 
party  suppressed  the  established  Church  of  England  for  a  time 
and  set  up  a  short-lived  republic. 

Though  the  people  of  Virginia  were  divided  in  their  political 
and  religious  opinions,  yet  the  ruling  element  stanchly  upheld 
the  church  and  the  crown.  The  Assembly  enacted  (1643)  tnat 
"  all  non-conformists  (that  is,  persons  who  would  not  attend  the 
service  of  the  Episcopal  Church)  should,  when  notified,  be  com 
pelled  to  depart  out  of  the  colony."  Again,  when  Charles  I  was 
beheaded  (1649),  the  Assembly  declared  his  executioners  traitors 
and  threatened  death  to  those  who  should  defend  them.1 

1  See  Cookers  Virginia,  193. 


42          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1660-1672 

But  in  the  end  Virginia  found  it  policy  to  submit  to  the 
authority  of  the  English  republic.  Governor  Berkeley  retired 
from  office,  but  gave  princely  receptions  to  the  Cavaliers  or 
"  king's  men  "  who  had  fought  for  Charles  I  and  who  now  fled 
to  Virginia.  Among  those  who  came  were  the  ancestors  of  the 
illustrious  families  of  the  Washingtons  and  the  Lees. 

Great  was  the  rejoicing  in  the  "  Old  Dominion"  when  (1660) 
monarchy  was  restored  in  England,  and  "  the  king  came  back  to 
his  own  again."  Governor  Berkeley  again  put  on  his  silk  robe  of 
office,  and  the  Assembly  begged  the  pardon  of  Charles  II  for 
having  yielded  for  a  time  to  the  "  execrable  power  that  so  bloodily 
massacred  the  late  King  Charles  the  First  of  blessed  and  glorious 
memory." 

48.  The  Navigation  Acts  versus  privileges  granted  to  the  col 
onists.  Under  Cromwell  the  English  Parliament  enacted  a  Navi 
gation  Act  which  forbade  the  importation  into  England  of  any 
products  or  goods  not  brought  in  British  or  colonial  vessels. 
"The  object  of  this  law  was  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  Dutch,  who  had 
the  control  of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world,  and  to  secure  a 
large  part  of  the  commerce  to  English  shipowners.  Charles  II 
(i  660)  signed  a  bill  which  made  the  Navigation  Acts 1  far  more 
stringent.  In  their  revised  form  they  forbade  the  Virginians 
exporting  certain  "  enumerated  articles,"  of  which  tobacco  was 
the  most  important,2  to  any  country  except  Great  Britain  or  her 
dependencies.  A  few  years  later  (1663)  a  new  statute  prohib 
ited  the  colonists  from  loading  vessels  with  any  European  com 
modity  or  manufactured  goods  except  those  which  came  from 
Great  Britain  and  were  imported  in  "  English-built  shipping." 
Finally,  to  prevent  illicit  trade  in  tobacco,  this  restrictive  legisla 
tion  reached  its  climax  in  the  enactment  of  a  third  law  (1672) 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  Nos.  22,  23,  25,  28,  34,  43;  or  Hart's 
American  History  Leaflets,  No.  19;  Winsor's  America,  VI,  6-10;  Thwaites'  Colonies, 
104-106. 

2  The  "  enumerated  articles "  were  sugar,  tobacco,  cotton,  indigo,  ginger,  fustic, 
or  other  dyewoods  grown  or  produced  in  any  of  the  English  colonies.     Macdonald's 
Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  114. 


1672-1760]       ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS        43 

which  prohibited  the  colonies  from  exporting  any  of  the  "  enu 
merated  articles"  to  each  other  unless  they  paid  duties  on  such 
exports. 

These  laws  were  chiefly  intended  to  protect  the  interests  of  the 
mother-country.  They  made  it  possible  to  a  considerable  degree 
for  English  merchants  to  fix  the  price  at  which  the  Virginia  and 
other  colonial  planters  must  sell  their  produce,  and  secondly  to 
determine  the  price  which  the  colonists  must  pay  for  whatever 
they  imported. 

On  the  other  hand,  Parliament  granted  the  colonists  certain 
very  important  privileges  :  (i)  it  gave  them  the  absolute  mo 
nopoly  of  the  English  tobacco  market;  (2)  it  gave  them  a 
drawback  on  duties  on  goods  imported  from  Europe  by  way 
of  England.  This  often  made  such  goods  actually  cheaper  in 
America,  than  in  England ;  (3)  it  permitted  the  colonists  to 
export  all  nonenumerated  articles  such  as  grain,  salted  provi 
sions,  rum,  furs,  and  rice,  in  all  of  which  products  there  was 
a  large  and  lucrative  trade ;  (4)  it  encouraged  the  exportation 
to  England  of  tar,  pitch,  turpentine,  and  ship-timber  by  the  pay 
ment  of  liberal  bounties.1  Finally,  the  Navigation  Acts  were 
never  enforced  to  any  great  extent  until  after  the  accession  of 
George  III  in  1760,  and  the  Virginians  found  means  to  smuggle 
their  tobacco  over  to  -Holland  in  Dutch  vessels  (§62)  and  to 
smuggle  back., goods  in  return.2 

49.  Charles  II  grants  Virginia  to  two  of  his  favorites.  We  have 
seen  (§47)  that  the  English  sovereigns  had  carved  huge  slices 
out  of  Virginia,  both  on  the  north  and  the  south.  The  people 
were  dismayed  at  the  loss,  but  congratulated  themselves  that  the 
king  had  not  taken  all,  when  by  a  sudden  act  (1673)  Charles  did 
take  all.  That  monarch  had  two  rapacious  favorites,  the  Earl 
of  Arlington  and  Lord  Culpepper ;  both  wished  to  fill  their 
pockets  at  the  expense  of  the  New  World.  Charles  took  pity  on 

1  See  Lecky's  History  of  England,  III,  326-328. 

2  Lecky's  History  of  England,  III,  328,  329,  335  ;  or  Lecky's  American  Revolution, 
edited  by  Professor  Woodburn. 


44  THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1675 

them  and  granted  them  "  that  entire  tract  of  land  and  water  com 
monly  called  Virginia"  to  have  and  to  hold  for  thirty-one  years. 
He  empowered  these  two  noblemen  to  collect  all  land  rents  and 
receive  all  revenues;  and  though  they  could  not  actually  dis 
possess  any  settler  who  held  his  estate  by  a  clear  title,  they  could 
compel  him  to  prove  his  title.  These  powers  made  Arlington  and 
Culpepper  the  owners  and  masters,  for  the  time,  of  the  whole 
territory  of  Virginia. 

50.  The   "Perpetual   Legislature";    the   parish   committees; 
taxes;  war  with  the  Indians.    To  add   to  the  miseries  of  the 
colonists,   no   general    election   had    been    held   since  Governor 
Berkeley's   restoration    to    office  —  a    period    of  thirteen    years. 
Such  a  state  of  things  virtually  deprived  the  colonists  of  represen 
tation  in   the   Assembly.     Furthermore,  the  vestries  or  church 
committees,  which  had  the  control  of  the  affairs  of  each  parish, 
had  gradually  become  self-elective  bodies  or  close  corporations. 
This  change  deprived   the  majority  of  the   parishioners  of  any 
voice  in   the   management  of  local  interests.      Meanwhile   the 
"  Perpetual  Legislature,"  as  it  might  well  be  named,  demanded 
heavy  taxes  to  keep  up  the  forts,  and  called  on  the  planters  for 
large  levies  of  tobacco  in  order  to  raise  a  fund  to  buy  out  the 
claims  of  Arlington  and  Culpepper. 

Just  at  this  critical  period  (1675)  the  Indians  on  the  frontier 
rose  against  the  settlers.  King  Philip's  War  was  raging  in  Massa 
chusetts,  and  the  planters  had  good  reason  to  fear  that  the  hid 
eous  atrocities  committed  by  the  savages  in  New  England  would 
soon  be  repeated  in  Virginia.  Governor  Berkeley  took  no  decided 
measures  to  protect  the  colonists,  and  it  was  whispered  that  the 
profits  he  derived  from  trade  with  the  Indians  made  him  unwilling 
to  act. 

51.  Bacon  and  the  Indians;  the  "Bacon  Rebellion."    At  this 
juncture  Nathaniel  Bacon,  a  wealthy  young  planter,  and  a  member 
of  the  governor's  council,  asked  for  a  commission  to  raise  volun 
teers  to  defend  the  colony.     The  governor  refused  his  request. 
Bacon,  whose  plantation  had  been  attacked  by  the  Indians,  raised 


167&-]        ENGLISH  AND    FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS          45 

a  body  of  men  on  his  own  responsibility  and  marched  against  the 
savages.  Berkeley  denounced  him  as  a  traitor.  The  settlers  in 
the  lower  counties  sympathized  with  the  young  planter's  energetic 
action.  They  rose  in  arms  and  compelled  the  election  (1676) 
of  a  new  Assembly,  —  the  first  that  had  been  chosen  for  sixteen 
years.  Bacon  was  chosen  as  a  member.  This  Assembly  broke 
up  the  close  parish  committees  (§  50),  regranted  to  the  freemen 
of  each  parish  the  right  to  manage  its  affairs,  and  repealed  the 
law  (§  43)  which  limited  the  right  of  suffrage  to  freeholders  and 
householders. 

Governor  Berkeley,  yielding  to  the  pressure  brought  by  the 
people,  not  only  pardoned  Bacon,  but  promised  him  a  commis 
sion  to  raise  volunteers.  The  governor  did  not  keep  his  word,  and 
Bacon,  suspecting  treachery,  secretly  left  Jamestown  and  soon 
afterward  reappeared  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  men.  Berkeley 
then  gave  him  the  commission  he  demanded,  but  shortly  after 
proclaimed  him  a  rebel.  This  brought  on  civil  war.  James 
town  was  besieged,  the  governor  fled,  and  the  town  was  burned 
to  the  ground.  A  crumbling  heap  of  ruins  shows  where  the  first 
permanent  English  colony  in  America  built  its  first  settlement; 
the  capital  of  Virginia  was  removed  (1690)  to  Williamsburg. 

The  leader  of  the  rebellion  suddenly  died,  the  movement 
collapsed,  and  the  reforms  with  it.  The  "  Bacon  Laws,"  includ 
ing  freedom  of  suffrage,  were  repealed,  and  soon  everything  was 
back  in  the  old  ruts.  Berkeley  showed  so  little  mercy  in  dealing 
with  the  Bacon  party  that  even  Charles  II  said  in  disgust: 
"That  old  fool  has  hanged  more  men  in  that  naked  country 
than  I  did  (in  England)  for  the  murder  of  my  father." 

But  Bacon's  movement  of  reform  perished  only  in  appearance. 
From  Berkeley's  time  onward  we  mark  a  rising  spirit  of  resist 
ance  to  arbitrary  rule.  When  Governor  Spotswood  (1710-1722) 
insisted  on  settling  clergymen  for  life  over  the  parishes,  the 
people  refused  to  settle  a  minister  for  more  than  a  year.  They 
claimed  that  since  they  were  taxed  to  pay  for  preaching  they 
had  the  right  to  choose  the  preacher.  In  the  end  the  people 


46          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY       [1752-1775 

gained  the  day,  and  the  lordly  Spotswood  retired  discomfited 
from  the  field. 

Governor  Dinwiddie  (1752-1758)  found  the  people  just  as 
stubborn  on  another  point.  He  asked  for  contributions  to  fight 
the  French  and  Indians  on  the  western  frontier,  but  the  Assembly 
refused  to  vote  them  unless  he  would  give  up  the  exaction  of 
illegal  land  fees.  •  Worn  out  with  the  long  contest,  the  governor 
wrote  to  a  friend  that  the  Virginians  were  "  too  much  in  a  repub 
lican  way  of  thinking."  Naturally  the  aristocratic  planters  of  the 
"Old  Dominion"  stood  squarely  by  church  and  king,  but  none 
the  less  they  were  fully  resolved  to  contest  to  the  death  any 
serious  infringement  of  their  rights.  Edmund  Burke  believed 
that  the  ownership  of  slaves  made  the  Virginians  "  proud  and 
jealous  of  their  liberty."  In  his  famous  speech  on  "  Concilia 
tion  "  (1775)  ne  said:  "In  such  a  people  the  haughtiness  of 
domination  combines  with  the  spirit  of  freedom,  fortifies  it,  and 
renders  it  invincible." 

52.  The  spirit  of  independence  in  Virginia;  the  warrior 
preacher;  the  Continental  Congress.  But  this  spirit  of  freedom 
was  not  confined  in  any  way  to  one  class  or  section  of  Virginia. 
Late  in  the  colonial  period  an  industrious  and  thrifty  population 
of  Germans,  Swedes,  and  Scotch-Irish  —  or  emigrants  of  Scottish 
origin  who  came  from  the  north  of  Ireland  —  settled  in  the  beau 
tiful  Shenandoah  Valley.  They  were  a  God-fearing  and  liberty- 
loving  people,  too  poor  to  own  slaves,  and  so  earning  their  daily 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows.  From  them  sprang  a  class 
of  men  who  made  their  influence  felt  in  the  Revolution  and  in 
the  Civil  War. 

The  Reverend  John  Muhlenberg,  a  clergyman  of  that  section, 
voiced  the  feelings  of  the  hardy  patriots  of  the  stirring  days  of 
1775.  At  the  close  of  a  fervent  discourse  he  said:  "Brethren, 
there  is  a  time  for  all  things  —  a  time  to  preach  and  a  time 
to  pray ;  but  there  is  also  a  time  to  fight,  and  that  time  has 
now  come  !  "  Then  throwing  off  his  gown,  he  stood  before  his 
congregation  a  girded  warrior,  and  coming  down  from  the  pulpit 


1776]         ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  47 

commanded  the  drummers  at  the  church  door  to  beat  for  recruits.1 
Nearly  three  hundred  of  the  congregation  entered  the  ranks.  It 
was  the  spirit  of  the  "  Bacon  Rebellion  "  revived  and  intensified. 
This  time  it  was  not  to  be  quelled. 

The  next  year  —  just  a  hundred  years  to  a  day  from  the  time 
the  Bacon  Assembly  had  met  at  Jamestown  —  another  assembly, 
the  Continental  Congress,  met  at  Philadelphia.  On  motion  by 
a  delegate  from  Virginia  they  voted  the  adoption  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  which  Jefferson  wrote  and  which  Washington 
drew  his  sword  to  defend. 

53.  Summary.    Jamestown,  Virginia  (1607),  was  the  first  perma 
nent  English  settlement  made  in  the  New  World.    There  (1619), 
the  first  American   Legislature  was  convened ;    the    same   year 
saw  the  introduction  of  negro  slaves.     Tobacco  was  the  great 
staple  which  built  up  the  commerce  of  the  colony,  though  that 
commerce  was  hampered  (1660)  by  the  English  navigation  laws. 
Virginia  was  strongly  Royalist,  but  it  was  also  determined  to  resist 
oppression.     There  was  a  period  of  bad  government,  and  Bacon 
(1676)  began  a  movement  of  reform  which  was  temporarily  suc 
cessful.    Later  (1775),  the  spirit  of  independence  made  the  "  Old 
Dominion  "  a  leading  colony  in  the  Revolution. 

II.  NEW  NETHERLAND  OR  NEW  YORK  (i6i4)2 

54.  New   Netherland   or  New  York  (1614);   Henry  Hudson's 
search  for  a  passage  to  the  Indies ;  the  "  River  of  the  Mountains." 
In  1609  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  —  England's  great  com 
mercial  rival  —  sent  out  Captain  Henry  Hudson  to  discover  a 
passage  through  America  to  the  Indies.     While  examining  the 
coast  he  entered  that  noble  stream  originally  called  the  "  River 

1  Bishop  Meade's  Old  Churches  of  Virginia,  II,  314. 

2  See  Winsor's  America,  IV,  ch.  viii ;  III,  ch.  x ;  V,  ch.  iii ;  Thwaites'  Colonies, 
ch.  ix;  Brodhead's  New  York  (1609-1691);   Fiske's  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies; 
Roberts'  New  York;    Lamb's  City  of  New  York;  Wilson's  Memorial  History  of 
the  City  of  New  York. 


48  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1614-1621 

of  the  Mountains,"  but  which  to-day  bears  the  name  of  its  English 
explorer.1  Sailing  up  the  river,  Hudson  passed  the  Highlands 
and  the  Catskills,  and  reached  the  point  where  Albany  now  stands. 
Shallow  water  forced  him  to  turn  back.  He  was  delighted  with 
the  country.  "It  is  as  beautiful  a  land,"  said  he,  "as  the  foot 
of  man  ever  trod  upon."  After  a  short  stay  he  returned  to 
Europe. 

55.  The  Dutch  build  fur-trading  stations  (1614)  on  the  Hudson 
River.    The  Dutch  at  once  (1610)  sent  out  an  expedition  to  open 
fur  traffic  with  the  Indians.     Soon  afterward  (1614)  they  built  a 
few  log  cabins  on  the  southern  portion  of  Manhattan  Island,  and 
erected  Fort  Nassau  just  below  the  present  site  of  Albany. 

Fort  Nassau  was  practically  at  the  head  of  ship  navigation  on 
the  Hudson.  It  also  stood  at  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  great 
central  Indian  trail  running  to  Lake  Erie  (§  30).  Such  a  station  was 
admirably  located  for  carrying  on  the  fur  trade  with  the  Iroquois. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  post  on  Manhattan  Island  would  control 
the  entrance  to  the  river  and  thus  give  the  Dutch  a  monopoly 
of  one  of  the  most  important  waterways  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
America. 

56.  A  trading  company  formed ;  colonization ;  purchase  of  Man 
hattan  Island  (1626).    In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  (1614)  the 
Dutch  Republic  of  the  United  Netherlands  granted  a  charter  to 
a  commercial  corporation  giving  it  the  exclusive  right  to  trade 
with  the  country  called  New  Netherland.     The  territory  nomi 
nally  embraced  not  only  the  valley  of  the  Hudson  but  the  entire 
region  between  Virginia  and  Canada  as  far  east  as  Cape  Cod. 
Practically,  however,  New  Netherland  was  confined  to  a  narrow 
strip  between  the  source  of  the  Hudson  and  Delaware  Bay. 

The  object  of  the  Company  was  not  to  plant  colonies  but  to 
engage  in  traffic  with  the  natives.  But  some  years  later  (1621), 
a  new  corporation,  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  obtained  a 

1  In  1524  Verrazano  may  have  entered  what  is  now  the  harbor  of  New  York,  but 
there  seems  to  be  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  went  up  the  Hudson.  See 
Winsor's  America,  IV,  7. 


FIRST  SETTLEMENTS  MADE 
ON  THE  EASTERN  COAST 
OF  NORTH  AMERICA 

Virginia,  by  its  first  charter  (1606), 
extended  100  miles  inland;  by  its 
second  charter  (1609)  it  was  extended 
westward  to  the  Pacific. 

The  charters  of  Massachusetts,  Con 
necticut,  North  Carolina,  South  Caro 
lina,  and  Georgia  made  the  Pacific  the 
western  boundary  of  these  colonies. 

By  the  Treaty  of  1763  (see  page  153 
and  colored  map  of  the  United  States  at 
the  close  of  the  Revolution)  the  Missis 
sippi  was  made  the  western  boundary 
of  the  British  possessions  south  of 
Canada. 


49 


50  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1623-1629 

charter  giving  them  all  the  rights  originally  possessed  by  the  first 
Company  and  the  privilege  of  sending  over  colonists  besides. 
They  soon  (1623)  shipped  a  number  of  Walloons,  or  Belgian 
Protestants,  to  New  Netherland.  Part  of  the  emigrants  landed 
on  Manhattan  Island,  but  most  of  them  went  up  the  river  and 
helped  to  build  Fort  Orange  —  now  Albany. 

In  1626  the  Company  sent  out  Peter  Minuit  as  governor;  he 
purchased  the  Island  of  Manhattan  from  the  Indians  (1626)  for 
"  the  value  of  sixty  guilders,"  or  about  $24.  The  town  of  thirty 
houses  on  the  island  now  received  the  name  of  New  Amsterdam. 

57.  Establishment  of  the  patroon  system.  A  few  years  later 
(1629),  the  Company  established  the  patroon  system  in  the  hope 
of  thereby  promoting  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  colony.  The 
patroon  stood  in  the  place  of  the  old  feudal  lord ;  under  him  the 
colonist  played  the  part  of  serf  or  semi-slave. 

The  following  were  the  privileges  of  the  master  :  (i)  every 
member  of  the  Company  who  bound  himself  to  take  or  send  over 
at  least  fifty  emigrants  over  fifteen  years  of  age  was  to  receive  the 
honorary  title  of  "  Patroon  [or  Patron]  of  New  Netherland  "  ; 
(2)  he  was  entitled  to  hold  an  estate  having  sixteen  miles  frontage 
on  "  one  side  of  a  navigable  river,  or  eight  miles  on  each  side,"  and 
extending  as  far  into  the  country  "  as  the  situations  of  the  occu 
piers  will  permit ";  (3)  as  lord  of  the  manor,  he  was  empowered 
to  hold  civil  and  criminal  courts  on  his  estate,  and  from  his  deci 
sions  as  judge  there  was  practically  no  appeal ;  (4)  he  had  the 
right  to  appoint  officers  and  magistrates  in  all  cities  and  towns 
founded  on  his  lands.  This,  of  course,  gave  him  almost  entire 
control  of  such  places,  since  the  inhabitants  had  no  voice  in  the 
elections;  (5)  he  held  his  estate  "as  a  perpetual  inheritance," 
and  by  handing  it  down  in  the  line  of  the  eldest  son  could  con 
tinue  to  keep  his  vast  property  undivided  in  his  family.1 

On  the  other  hand,  all  emigrants  taken  or  sent  out  to  New 
Netherland  by  a  patroon  were  held  as  follows :  (i)  they  bound 
themselves  to  serve  him  for  a  term  of  years  (like  the  indented 
1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  9. 


1629-1640]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS         51 


servants  of  Virginia  planters,  §  42) ;  (2)  they  agreed  to  grind  their 
grain  in  his  mill  and  to  pay  for  the  grinding ;  (3)  they  were  not  to 
hunt  or  fish  without  their  master's  permission ;  (4)  they  pledged 
themselves  not  to  weave  any  cloth  for  themselves  or  others,  but 
to  buy  it  from  the  Company. 

The  master  and  his  laborers  were  to  "find 
means  for  supporting  a  minister  and  a  school 
master  and  a  comforter  of  the  sick."  No  pa- 
troon  was  permitted  by  the  Company  to  engage 
in  the  fur  trade  except  at  certain  designated 
trading  posts;  he  was  also  to  pay  an  export 
duty  on  all  skins  sent  out  of  the  colony. 

58.  The  Van  Rensselaer  and  other  estates; 
how  the  patroons  lived.  The  Company  gave  up 
granting  these  very  exceptional  privileges  in 
1638-1640  and  opened  the  country  to  free  emi 
gration.  But  the  patroons  continued  to  enjoy 
the  monopolies  they  had  obtained.  They  had 
already  taken  possession  of  some  of  the  most 
important  points  on  the  Delaware  and  the  Hud 
son  (Manhattan  Island  excepted).  The  most 
noted  of  the  patroons  was  Kiliaen  Van  Rens 
selaer.  He  obtained  a  grant  which  embraced 
the  greater  part  of  what  are  now  Albany,  Van 
Rensselaer,  and  Columbia  counties,  on  the  Hud 
son.  This  princely  estate  covered  more  than  a 
thousand  square  miles,  and  extended  for  twenty- 
four  miles  along  the  river. 

He  and  his  brother  capitalists  on  the  Hudson 
lived  in  the  midst  of  their  tenants  like  the  feudal 
barons  in  their  castles  on  the  Rhine.  They  collected  their  rents, 
held  their  courts,  and  at  one  time  levied  tolls  on  all  vessels 
passing  their  estates.  The  Van  Rensselaers,  Van  Cortlandts, 
Livingstons,  Schuylers,  and  other  wealthy  families  built  elegant 
mansions  on  Manhattan  Island  or  vicinity.  In  the  summer  they 


v. — j 


,rdi 


LAND  HELD  BY 
KILIAEN  VAN 
RENSSELAER 


$2  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1633-1647 

went  to  their  country  places,  in  winter  they  returned  to  their 
homes  on  the  island.  Like  the  Virginia  planters,  they  had  their 
retinue  of  black  servants  in  livery  (for  negro  slavery  was  permitted 
in  New  Netherland).  With  the  Virginians,  these  wealthy  Dutch 
proprietors  constituted  the  chief  landed  aristocracy  of  America. 

59.  The  Dutch  on  the  Connecticut ;  New  Amsterdam  in  1643  >  free 
trade  and  cheap  lands.    Not  satisfied  with  holding  the  Delaware 
and  the  Hudson,  the  Dutch  endeavored  to  establish  settlements 
on  the  Connecticut.     They  first  explored   that  noble  river  and 
opened  trade  with  the  Indians  on  its  banks ;  and  on  land  which 
they  purchased  of  the  Pequots  they  built  a  small  fort  (1633) 
where  the  city  of  Hartford  now  stands. 

Ten  years  later  (1643),  a  French  Jesuit  priest  visited  New 
Amsterdam  on  Manhattan  Island.  He  describes  the  town  as 
having  a  population  of  four  or  five  hundred  persons  composed 
"  of  different  sects  and  nations."  This  fact  shows  that  the  germ 
of  the  great  city  which  now  stands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson 
was  even  then  assuming  that  many-sided,  cosmopolitan  character 
which  it  has  ever  since  retained.  The  West  India  Company  had 
been  mindful  of  the  demands  of  education  and  had  established 
(1633)  a  good  school  in  New  Amsterdam.  It  still  flourishes 
under  the  name  of  the  "  School  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed 
Church,"  and  is  the  oldest  institution  of  learning  in  the  United 
States  (§  93). 

But  the  colony  did  not  grow.  The  patroon  system  kept  the 
better  class  of  emigrants  away,  and  there  was  no  freedom  of  trade. 
Most  of  the  early  governors  were  rapacious  or  inefficient,  and  cared 
nothing  for  the  best  interests  of  New  Netherland.  At  length  the 
government  in  Holland  resolved  to  throw  open  the  trade  of  the 
colony  and  to  grant  lands  on  easy  terms  to  all  comers.  These 
measures  had  the  desired  effect,  and  emigration  to  the  Dutch 
colony  on  the  Hudson  began  in  earnest. 

60.  Peter  Stuyvesant ;  the  people  demand  a  share  in  the  govern 
ment;  the  "Nine  Men";  attempted  reforms.    A  few  years  later 
(1647),  Peter  Stuyvesant,  the  last  of  the  Dutch  governors,  came 


1647-1656]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS          53 

into  power.  He  found  no  small  political  discontent  among  the 
colonists.  Most  of  them  had  come  from  the  Dutch  Republic  of 
Holland  only  to  find  less  liberty  in  the  New  World  than  they  had 
enjoyed  in  the  Old.  While  the  English  colonists  east  and  south 
of  them  made  their  own  local  laws,  the  settlers  on  the  Hudson 
were  under  the  control  of  a  commercial  company  whose  prime 
object  was  to  pay  large  dividends  to  its  stockholders.  Governor 
Stuyvesant  had  no  faith  in  democracy,  but  he  could  not  resist  the 
demands  of  the  colonists  for  a  share  in  the  government.  The 
people  were  accordingly  permitted  (1647)  to  elect  eighteen  coun 
selors,  from  whom  the  governor  chose  "  Nine  Men  "  to  assist  him. 

The  "  Nine  Men  "  did  excellent  work.  They  protested  against 
the  heavy  taxes  and  the  enormous  export  duties  imposed  by  the 
West  India  Company.  They  also  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  port  charges  were  so  exorbitant  that  trade  was  kept  away. 
Stuyvesant  answered  that  it  was  no  fault  of  his  if  he  had  to  serve 
greedy  and  tyrannical  masters.  Then  the  "  Nine  Men  "  petitioned 
the  home  government  to  take  the  management  of  the  colony  out 
of  the  Company's  hands,  to  take  off  all  restrictions  on  trade,  to 
send  over  emigrants  free,  to  clearly  define  the  boundaries  of  New 
Netherland  so  as  to  avoid  disputes  with  the  English  colonists, 
and  finally  to  grant  to  the  Dutch  settlers  a  representative  assem 
bly  such  as  their  countrymen  enjoyed  in  Holland. 

To  prevent  trouble  the  West  India  Company  grudgingly  granted 
a  larger  measure  of  political  liberty  than  the  colonists  had  yet 
possessed.  The  better  class  of  citizens  in  New  Amsterdam  were 
permitted  to  elect  a  body  of  magistrates  "  as  much  as  possible 
according  to  the  customs  "  of  the  city  of  Amsterdam  in  Holland. 
But  when  the  day  of  election  arrived  the  imperious  Stuyvesant 
quietly  appointed  all  the  officers  himself. 

61.  Religious  intolerance;  treatment  of  Quakers.  In  matters 
of  religion  Stuyvesant  was  as  arbitrary  as  he  was  in  politics.  He 
refused  to  permit  any  congregations  to  worship  openly  except 
those  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  —  the  established  Protestant 
Church  of  Holland.  He  ordered  (1656)  that  any  one  preaching 


54  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1657-1604 

without  a  license  should  be  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  one 
hundred  pounds,  while  each  hearer  was  to  pay  a  fine  of  twenty- 
five.  The  Company  felt  that  this  was  pushing  matters  too  far, 
since  private  dissenting  worship  was  tolerated  in  Holland.  They 
rebuked  the  governor  and  ordered  him  to  grant  all  citizens  "  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion  within  their  own  homes." 

The  next  year  (1657)  one  of  that  Society  of  Friends  which 
the  Massachusetts  authorities  called  the  "  cursed  sect  of  heretics  " 
(§  96)  came  to  New  Amsterdam.  The  governor  was  furious. 
After  repeated  scourgings  and  solitary  imprisonment  in  the  dun 
geon  of  the  fortr  the  Quaker  was  finally  driven  out  of  the  province. 
Later,  the  governor  issued  a  proclamation  prohibiting  the  public 
exercise  of  any  religion  but  that  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
"  in  houses,  barns,  woods,  ships,  or  fields."  For  a  third  offense 
against  this  law  the  offender  was  to  be  flogged. 

The  Company  again  rebuked  Stuyvesant's  misdirected  zeal. 
This  time  the  hot-headed  governor  obeyed  orders,  and  persecu 
tion  ceased. 

62.  England  claims  New  Netherland,  takes  it  (1664),  and  re 
names  it  New  York.  But  the  end  of  Stuyvesant's  administration 
and  of  Dutch  rule  in  New  Netherland  was  at  hand.  England 
claimed  the  colony  by  virtue  of  Cabot's  discovery  (§  n).  The 
English  had  three  powerful  reasons  for  insisting  on  this  claim.  In 
the  first  place,  a  considerable  number  of  English  had  settled  in 
New  Netherland  ;  next,  the  British  government  lost  about  ^"10,000 
a  year  in  customs  duties  through  the  Dutch  smugglers  who  secretly 
carried  Virginia  tobacco  to  Holland  (§  48).  But  the  third,  and 
perhaps  the  chief  reason  why  England  was  determined  to  possess 
New  Netherland  was  that  the  king  had  resolved  to  have  a  strong, 
united,  and  compact  line  of  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  This 
was  impossible  so  long  as  the  Dutch  held  the  Hudson,  since  a  glance 
at  the  map  shows  that  New  Netherland  was  a  geographical  wedge 
separating  New  England  from  the  English  colonies  on  the  south. 

Although  England  and  Holland  were  then  at  peace,  Charles  II, 
assuming  that  the  country  on  the  Hudson  was  rightfully  his, 


1664-1685]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         55 

quietly  made  over  the  whole  of  it  to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of 
York  and  Albany.  James  at  once  sent  over  a  fleet  under  Colonel 
Nicolls  to  seize  the  prize.  Nicolls  (1664)  demanded  the  surren 
der  of  New  Amsterdam.  Stuyvesant  replied,  "  I  would  rather 
be  carried  out  dead  than  give  up  the  fort."  But  the  people  were 
weary  of  the  rule  of  the  West  India  Company  and  were  willing 
to  accept  the  liberal  terms  promised  by  the  English.  The  high- 
spirited  governor  could  not  help  himself,  and  so  sorrowfully  sur 
rendered.  The  Dutch  flag  was  hauled  down  and  the  red  cross  of 
England  rose  triumphantly  in  its  place.  In  honor  of  its  ducal 
owner,  New  Netherland  was  now  christened  New  York,  Fort 
Orange  became  Albany,  and  New  Amsterdam  took  the- title  of 
New  York  City. 

63.  The  " Duke's  Laws"  ;  the  duke  grants  a  Charter  of  Liberties 
(1683)  ;  repeals  it  (1685).  Colonel  Nicolls  prepared  a  code  (1665) 
known  as  the  "  Duke's  Laws,"  which  established :  (i)  equal 
taxation ;  (2)  trial  by  jury ;  (3)  the  obligation  of  military  duty ; 
(4)  freedom  of  religion  to  all  Christians.1 

Later  (1683),  Colonel  Thomas  Dongan,  an  Irish  Catholic,  who 
was  then  governor  of  New  York,  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  York ; 
"The  people  generally  cry  out  for  an  assembly."  The  duke 
reluctantly  granted  the  colony  (1683)  a  Charter  of  Liberties. 
This  provided  :  (i)  that  every  freeholder  should  have  the  right 
to  vote  for  representatives  to  an  assembly,  whose  laws  (made  by 
the  governor's  council  and  assembly  jointly)  should  be  subject  to 
the  duke's  approval;  (2)  no  taxes  were  to  be  levied  except  by 
consent  of  the  assembly  ;  (3)  entire  freedom  of  religion  was  guar 
anteed  to  all  peaceable  persons  who  should  profess  any  recognized 
form  of  Christian  faith.2 

Two  years  later  (1685),  the  duke  became  king  of  England 
with  the  title  James  II.  It  was  at  the  time  when  his  friend  and 
ally,  Louis  XIV  of  France,  was  creating  "  a  world- wide  religious 
panic  "  by  driving  all  Protestants  out  of  France.  Thousands  of 
distressed  and  destitute  Huguenots  fled  to  England  and  to  the 

l  See  Brodhead's  New  York,  II,  70.    2  ibid.,  383. 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1685-1686 


English  colonies  in  America.  Wherever  they  settled  they  roused 
the  fear  and  hatred  of  the  colonists  against  the  French  monarch. 
James  detested  free  institutions ;  as  for  legislatures,  he  said  he 
"  could  see  no  use  for  them."  He  at  once  wrote  to  Governor 
Dongan,  "  Our  will  and  pleasure  is  that  the  charter  be  forthwith 
repealed."  Thus  early  in  its  career  the  New  York  Assembly 
found  the  truth  of  the  psalmist's  advice,  "  Put  not  your  trust  in 
princes."  The  king's  mandate  suppressed  the  Assembly  and 
reduced  the  colony  to  the  condition  of  a  conquered  province. 
To  prevent  the  open  expression  of  discontent  the  people  were 
forbidden  to  have  a  printing  press.  On  the  other  hand,  James  II, 
as  a  Catholic,  keenly  felt  the  severity  of  the  English  laws  against 
members  of  that  Church,  and  he  now  granted  entire  liberty 
throughout  the  colony  "  to  all  persons  of  what  religion  soever." 

64.  Dongan's  treaty  with  the  Iroquois ;  Sir  Edmund  Andros. 
Governor  Dongan  saw  that  the  Iroquois  (§  32),  or  "  Five  Nations," 
formed  the  real  bulwark  of  New  York  against  the  hostile  designs 
of  the  French  in  Canada.  He  succeeded  in  securing  the  friend 
ship  of  the  most  important  tribes.  The  Iroquois  chiefs  said  to 
him,  "We  will  fight  the  French  as  long  as  we  have  a  man  left." 

Most  of  the  Mohawks  kept  their 
word,  but  Louis  XIV  entrapped  the 
rest  of  the  "  Five  Nations  "  into  a 
treaty  of  neutrality.  Governor 
Dongan  never  grew  slack  in  his 
defense  of  the  colony ;  after  he  re 
tired  from  office  he  mortgaged  his 
farm  to  raise  money  to  equip  the 
expedition  sent  (1690)  against 
Canada. 

In  1686  James  consolidated  the 
THE  DOMINION  OF  NEW         provinces  of  New  York,  New  Jer 
sey,  and  New  England  under  the 

name  of  the  Dominion  of  New  England,  and  made  Sir  Edmund 
Andros  governor  general  of  the  province,  with  his  headquarters  at 


•(ON 


< 

1686-1688]     ENGLISH   AND    FRENCH    SETTLEMENTS         57 

Boston.  The  consolidation  brought  these  colonies  more  directly 
under  the  king's  control  and  by  putting  Andros  in  command  made 
it  easier  to  repel  the  designs  of  the  French.  Speaking  of  the  new 
province,  James  said,  "  I  will  make  it  a  tower  of  iron." 

65.  Revolution  in  England;  Louis  XIV  declares  war  against 
England  and  her  colonies  ;  excitement  in  Boston.    But  the  reign  of 
James  was  near  its  close.    It  was  quite  generally  believed  in  Eng 
land  that  the  king  intended  to  overthrow  the  Protestant  religion 
and   the  constitutional  rights  of  the   nation   by  force  of  arms. 
William,  Prince  of  Orange,  James'  son-in-law  and  head  of  the 
Dutch  Republic,  was  invited  by  a  number  of  leading  men  of  both 
political  parties  to  come  with  an  army  to  the  defense  of  English 
liberty.    He  did  so,  and  James  fled  to  France  (1688).    Louis  XIV 
then  declared  war  against  England  and  her  American  colonies. 
When    the   news   reached    Boston    the    citizens   rose  and    threw 
Andros,  James'  representative,  into  prison. 

In  the  city  of  New  York  a  story  was  started  that  Nicholson,  the 
deputy  governor,  was  plotting  to  burn  the  town  and  massacre  all 
Protestants.  What  made  this  report  more  absurd  was  the  fact 
that  there  were  hardly  any  Catholics  at  that  time  in  New  York, 
while  the  Dutch  and  English  Protestant  population  numbered 
about  three  thousand. 

66.  Frontenac  prepares  to  attack  New  York ;  Jaceb  Leisler  seizes 
the  fort  and  is  chosen  governor.    The  danger  of  invasion  from 
Canada   was    imminent.      Frontenac,    the    French    governor    of 
Quebec,  was  preparing  to  attack  the  colony  both  by  land  and  sea. 
Louis  XIV  had  sent  him  secret  orders  to  seize  New  York  and  either 
drive  the  people  into  the  wilderness  to  starve,  or  imprison  them 
at  hard  labor.     This  order  did  not  except  Catholics  even,  unless 
they  would  submit,  and  swear  allegiance  to  the  king  of  France. 

The  "glorious  Revolution"  of  1688  made  William  of  Orange 
king  of  England,1  but  as  Governor  Nicholson  of  New  York  had 
not  received  official  notification  of  the  fact,  he  still  considered 
James  II  as  the  true  sovereign  and  declined  to  proclaim  William 

1  See  the  Leading  Facts  of  English  History  in  this  series. 


58  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1688-1691 

as  his  successor.  For  this  reason  Jacob  Leisler,  captain  of  a  com 
pany  of  New  York  militia,  denounced  the  governor  as  a  "papist." 
The  captain  had  seen  something  of  the  sufferings  of  the  fugitive 
Huguenots,  and  hated  the  name  of  Catholic  as  bitterly  and  blindly 
as  Louis  XIV  hated  that  of  Protestant.  Suddenly  the  report  came 
that  a  French  fleet  was  on  its  way  up  the  harbor.  The  city  was 
thrown  into  a  panic,  and  Leisler,  heading  a  band  of  citizens, 
seized  the  fort,  declaring  that  he  would  hold  it  until  King  William 
should  send  a  Protestant  to  demand  it. 

Shortly  after  this  Nicholson  sailed  for  England,  and  an  assembly, 
partially  representing  the  colony,  created  Leisler  governor.  The 
property  holders  and  conservative  citizens  were  opposed  to  him, 
but  the  masses  gave  him  their  hearty  support.  For  nearly  two 
years  (1689-1691)  he  ruled  New  York  as  absolutely  as  Louis  XIV 
ruled  France. 

67.  The  French  Canadians  burn  Schenectady ;  Leisler  calls  the 
first  American  Congress ;  execution  of  Leisler.  Frontenac  now 
(1690)  secretly  sent  a  force  of  French  and  Indians  from  Canada 
to  attack  Albany.  They  did  not  dare  assault  that  place,  but 
burned  Schenectady,  then  the  most  western  town  in  New  York, 
and  massacred  most  of  the  inhabitants.  In  this  emergency  Leisler 
took  prompt  action.  He  called  a  Colonial  Congress  to  meet 
(1690)  in  the  city  of  New  York.  To  this  Congress,  the  first  in 
America,  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  and  Connecticut  sent  delegates 
to  confer  with  those  of  New  York.  It  was  resolved  to  raise  an 
army  to  invade  Canada. 

King  William  had  appointed  Colonel  Sloughter  governor  of 
New  York.  In  the  autumn  of  1690  an  English  captain  arrived 
who  claimed  to  represent  him,  and  demanded  the  keys  of  the  fort. 
As  the  captain  failed  to  produce  any  authority  for  making  the 
demand,  Leisler  refused  to  give  up  the  keys.  Fighting  ensued 
and  several  persons  were  killed  on  each  side.  The  next  spring 
the  new  governor  came,  and  the  fort  was  promptly  given  up  to 
him.  Sloughter  at  once  arrested  Leisler  and  his  son-in-law  Mil- 
bourne  on  a  charge  of  murder  and  high  treason.  They  were 


1690-1701]     ENGLISH   AND   FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS        59 

convicted  ;  then  Governor  Sloughter,  while  drunk,  signed  Leisler's 
death  warrant  and  he  was  hanged.  For  many  years  afterward 
New  York  was  divided  into  two  intensely  bitter  factions,  —  the 
Leislerites  and  the  Anti-Leislerites.  The  former  represented  the 
mass  of  the  people,  the  latter  the  wealthier  and  more  influential 
citizens.  The  Leislerites  looked  upon  their  dead  leader  as  a 
martyr  in  the  cause  of  liberty ;  their  opponents  denounced  him 
as  a  demagogue,  a  fanatic,  and  a  usurper.1 

68.  Severe  treatment  of  Catholics.  Governor  Sloughter,  acting 
under  instructions  from  King  William  (1689),  restored  the  Assem 
bly  (§63)  and  granted  liberty  of  conscience  to  all  persons  except 
Catholics.  Some  years  later  (1696)  a  plot  was  hatched  in  France 
for  assassinating  King  William  and  restoring  James  II  to  the  English 
throne.  The  news  of  this  conspiracy  excited  great  alarm  in  the 
province  of  New  York.  The  colonists  believed  that  the  Canadian 
French  were  again  preparing  to  attack  the  settlements  on  the 
Hudson  River,  and  that  the  Catholics  of  New  York  would  take 
sides  with  the  French,  since  they  both  held  the  same  faith. 

In  consequence  of  this  alarm  the  governor  of  New  York  com 
manded  that  all  persons  not  Protestants  should  be  disarmed. 
The  Assembly  (1700)  ordered  priests  to  leave  the  colony  under 
penalty  of  imprisonment  for  life.  The  next  year  (1701)  the 
Assembly  deprived  Catholic  laymen  of  the  right  to  vote.2  Mean 
while  William  had  restored  the  Charter  of  Liberties  (§  63),  but 
with  the  omission  of  the  toleration  clause  which  had  granted  free 
dom  of  worship;  hence  the  new  form  of  charter  virtually  con 
firmed  the  action  of  the  Assembly  against  the  Catholics.  Six 
years  later,  William  annulled  the  Charter  of  Liberties  on  the 
ground  that  it  gave  too  much  power  to  the  people;  he  also 
greatly  extended  the  authority  of  the  royal  governor. 

69.  The  Zenger  case;  freedom  of  the  press  established.  In  1732 
a  case  came  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York  which  had  a 

1  See  Sparks'  Leisler,  236 ;  Brodhead's  New  York,  II,  649. 

2  See  Lodge's  Colonies,  320 ;  Winsor's  America,  V,  191 ;  De  Courcy  and  Shea's 
Catholic  Church,  331. 


60  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1732-1733 

most  important  bearing  on  the  question  of  popular  rights.  Gov 
ernor  Cosby,  an  avaricious  and  unscrupulous  ruler,  brought  a  suit 
in  that  court  to  obtain  a  sum  of  money ;  the  court  decided  the 
case  against  him.  In  his  rage  the  governor  removed  the  chief 
justice  and  appointed  a  new  judge. 

The  colonists  believed  that  if  a  judge  could  be  removed  at  pleas 
ure  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  justice  from  the  courts.  But 
the  people  protested  in  vain,  for  the  Assembly,  which  was  wholly 
under  Royalist  influence,  defended  Cosby,  and  the  only  newspaper 
then  printed  in  the  colony  did  the  same. 

At  this  juncture  Peter  Zenger,  a  German  printer,  came  out 
boldly  (1733)  with  the  first  number  of  an  opposition  paper  — 
the  New  York  Weekly  Journal — devoted  to  the  defense  of  the 
rights  of  the  peopte.  The  Journal  did  not  hesitate  to  attack 
the  governor  in  the  most  high-handed  way.  It  not  only  fired 
broadsides  of  editorials  at  his  administration  but  assailed  him 
personally  with  showers  of  stinging  jibes  and  satirical  ballads. 

The  sheriff  seized  the  offending  paper  and  burned  it.  Shortly 
afterward  the  publisher  of  it  was  arrested,  thrown  into  prison, 
and  accused  of  "  false,  malicious,  seditious,  and  scandalous 
libel."  When  the  case  came  up  for  trial  the  venerable  Andrew 
Hamilton  of  Philadelphia  —  the  foremost  lawyer  of  his  day  — 
volunteered  to  defend  Zenger.  Hamilton  offered  to  prove  the 
truth  of  the  charges  which  his  client  had  made.  The  judge 
refused  to  hear  him  on  the  ground  that  the  English  law  declared 
"  the  greater  the  truth  the  greater  the  libel." 

Hamilton  then  devoted  his  whole  attention  to  the  jury.  He 
insisted  that  they  should  decide  both  the  fact  and  the  law  of 
the  case.  His  eloquent  defense  of  the  freedom  of  the  press, 
and  the  wit,  sarcasm,  and  skill  with  which  he  attacked  the  gov 
ernor  completely  won  over  the  jury.  They  brought  in  a  ver 
dict  of  "  Not  guilty."  The  verdict  was  hailed  with  shouts  of 
applause  ;  the  fact  that  the  letter  of  the  law  was  really  against 
Zenger  only  made  his  friends  shout  the  louder.1 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  by  Contemporaries,  II,  No.  72. 


By  his  Excellency 

William  Cosby,  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief 

of  the  Provinces  of  NewVork,  New-Jerfey,  and  Territories  thereon 
depending  in  America,  Vice-Admiral  of  the  fame,  and  Colonel  in  His  Majefty's 
Army. 

APROCLAMATION. 

WHereas Ill-minded  andDifaffefled  Perfonshave  lately  difperfed 
in  the  City  of  Nem-Tork,  and  divers  other  Places,  feveral 
Scandalous  and  Seditious  Libels,    but  more  particularly  two  Printed 
Scandalous  Songs  or  Ballads,  highly  defaming  the  Adminiftration  of 
His  Majefty's  Government   in  this   Province  ,    tending   greatly  to 
inflame  the  Minds  of  His  Majefty's  good  .Subjects,  and  to  diflurb 
the  Publick  Peace.     And  Whereas  the  Grand  Jury  for  the  City  and 
County  of  New- York  did  lately,  by  their  Add refs  to  me,  complain 
of  thefe  Pernicious  Practices,  and  requeft  me  to  iffue  a  Proclamation 
for  the  Difeovery  of  the  Offenders,  that  they  might,  by  Law,  receive 
a  Punifhment  adequate  to  their  Guilt  and  Crime.    /  Have  therefore 
thought  fit,    by  and    with  the  Advice  of  his  Majefty's  Council,  to 
iffue  this  Proclamation,  hereby  Promifing  Twenty  Pounds  as  a  Reward, 
to  fuch  Perfon  or  Perfons  who  fhall  difcover  the  Author  or  Authors 
of  the  two  Scandalous  Songs  or  Balladsaforefaid,  to  be  paid  to  the 
Perfon  or  Perfons  difcovering  the  fame,   as  foon  as  fuch  Author  or 
Authors  fhall  be  Convicted  of  having  been  the  Author  or  Authors 
thereof- 

GIVEN  under  My  Band  and  Seal  at  Fort-George  in  New- York  this  Sixth  Day 
of  November,  in  the  Eighth  year  of  the  Reign  of  Our  Sovereign  LordGwx&v. 
theSecond,  by  the  Grace  of  GOD  of  Great-Britain,  France  and  Ireland,  KING, 
Defender  of  the  Faith,  &c.  and  in  the  year  of  Our  LORD.  1734 

By h&ExceUencfs Command,  \XJ 

Fred.  Morris,  D.  Cl.  Cont. 

GOD    Save  the     RING 


1733-]        ENGLISH   AND    FRENCH    SETTLEMENTS  6 1 


The  decision  of  this  case  established  the  liberty  of  the  press 
in  New  York  to  criticise  the  acts  of  the  government,  and  it 
encouraged  other  colonies  to  maintain  the  same  liberty.  That 
freedom,  though  liable  to  gross  abuse,  has  nevertheless  in  many 
cases  proved  itself  a  safeguard  of  the  rights  of  the  people  against 
the  encroachments  of  arbitrary  power. 

70.  The  Governor  versus  the  Assembly  ;  the  Assembly  limits  its 
money  appropriations  ;  the  Fort  Stanwix  Treaty  Line.  The  joy 
shown  at  Zenger's  acquittal  revealed  the  determined  spirit  of 


FORT  STANWIX  TREATY  LINE 
Made  1768  by  the  English  colonists  of  New  York  and  the  Iroquois  Indians 

resistance  which  existed  against  the  oppressive  use  of  authority. 
That  spirit  soon  manifested  itself  in  another  form.  The  gov 
ernor  of  New  York  regarded  the  Assembly  mainly  as  a  valuable 
labor-saving  machine  for  collecting  taxes,  of  which  he  pocketed 
a  goodly  share  as  salary  for  his  services.  Virtually  he  said  to  the 
representatives  of  the  people  :  "  Your  business  is  to  raise  whatever 
money  I  demand ;  mine  is  to  spend  it  as  I  see  fit." 


62  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1736-1768 

The  Assembly  resented  this  attitude  and  (1736)  refused  to 
grant  more  money  annually  than  should  be  required  to  meet  the 
necessary  expenses  of  the  year.  Later  (1739),  they  voted  to 
limit  all  appropriations  to  specified  purposes.  They  were  deter 
mined  to  know  just  how  the  governor  spent  every  shilling. 
Naturally  he  resented  this  action.  The  result  was  that  from  this 
time  an  almost  incessant  battle  was  waged  between  the  titled 
representatives  of  royalty  on  the  one  hand  and  the  taxpayers  on 
the  other.  The  contest  was  not  confined  to  New  York,  but  was 
carried  on  in  all  the  colonies  in  which  the  governors  were  not 
chosen  by  the  people.  It  grew  more  and  more  bitter  and  became 
in  considerable  measure  one  of  the  causes  of  the  Revolution. 

Up  to  1768  the  colony  of  New  York  had  no  definite  western 
boundary.  But  in  that  year  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Iroquois 
Indians,  or  Five  Nations,  by  which  the  territory  was  divided.  This 
treaty  gave  the  Indians  the  western  part  of  the  country.  It 
remained  in  their  possession  until  the  close  of  the  Revolution, 
when  it  was  thrown  open  to  settlement. 

71.  Summary.  In  1609  Henry  Hudson  discovered  the  river 
which  now  bears  his  name.  The  Dutch  took  possession  of  the 
country,  named  it  New  Netherland,  founded  the  city  of  New 
Amsterdam  on  Manhattan  Island,  and  established  the  patroon 
system  of  colonization.  In  1664  the  English,  under  the  Duke 
of  York,  seized  New  Netherland  and  named  it  New  YTork.  The 
people  were  given  representation,  and  for  a  time  religious  liberty 
prevailed,  but,  later,  fear  of  French  invasion  led  to  the  enact 
ment  of  severe  laws  against  the  Catholics.  Jacob  Leisler  seized 
the  fort  of  New  York  in  order  to  defend  the  colony  against  the 
French  ;  he  was  convicted  of  treason  and  executed.  Later,  Peter 
Zenger  came  forward  as  the  successful  champion  of  freedom  of 
the  press.  The  constant  disputes  between  the  people  and  the 
royal  governors  over  money  appropriations  became  one  cause  of 
the  Revolution.  The  western  part  of  New  York  was  not  opened 
to  settlement  until  after  the  close  of  the  war. 


1617-1664]    ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          63 


III.  NEW  JERSEY  (1617) l 

72.  New  Jersey  (1617);  the  Dutch  claim  the  country  between 
the  Hudson  and  the  Delaware ;  the  English  king  grants  the  land 
to  the  Duke  of  York ;  the  name  New  Jersey.    The  Dutch,  after 
opening  the  fur  trade  with  the  Indians  on  the  Hudson,  crossed 
over  from  Manhattan  Island  and  built  a  fort  at  Bergen  (1617) 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  river.     Later  (1623),  they  built  a  fort 
on  the  Delaware   nearly   opposite    the 

present  site  of  Philadelphia,  and  claimed 
the  territory  between  these  two  forts  as 
part  of  their  province  of  New  Netherland. 

The  English  denied  the  validity  of  the 
Dutch  claims  and  insisted  that  the  dis 
covery  of  the  North  American  continent 
by  Cabot  gave  them  the  right  to  the 
mainland  as  far  south  as  the  Spanish 
settlements  in  Florida.  In  accordance 
with  this  theory  Charles  II  included  this 
region  in  a  grant  which  he  made  (1664) 
to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of  York. 
The  duke  sold  (1664)  the  portion  between  the  Hudson  and  the 
Delaware  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret. 

Carteret  had  been  governor  of  the  island  of  Jersey,  and  during 
the  English  Civil  War  had  made  a  most  determined  stand  for 
King  Charles  I,  the  Duke  of  York's  father.  In  honor  of  his  loyalty 
the  duke  gave  the  colony  the  name  of  New  Jersey.  It  was  the 
first  English  province,  except  Maryland,  which  had  a  definite, 
natural,  western  boundary  —  namely,  the  Delaware  River. 

73.  Elizabethtown  founded  (1665);  grant  of  a  liberal  constitu 
tion  ;    dispute  about  land  rents.    Philip  Carteret,   a  nephew  of 
Sir  George,  went  out  as  governor  to  New  Jersey  (1664)  with  a 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  xi;  V,  ch.  iii;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  ix; 
Fiske's  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies;  Bancroft's  United  States  (last  revised  edition) ; 
Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc. ;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era  ;  Lodge's  Colonies. 


64          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1665-1676 

company  of  emigrants.  They  named  their  place  of  settlement 
(1665)  Elizabeth  town,  out  of  regard  for  Lady  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Sir  George  Carteret. 

The  proprietors  of  New  Jersey  granted  the  colonists  a  consti 
tution1  which  conferred  the  power  of  taxation  and  of  law-making 
on  a  Legislature  of  which  the  Assembly,  or  lower  house,  was  chosen 
directly  by  the  people.  Liberty  of  conscience  was  granted  to  all 
peaceable  persons. 

Berkeley  and  Carteret  later  (1670)  demanded  a  land  rent  of 
a  half  penny  per  acre.  The  settlers  refused  to  pay  it  on  the 
ground  that  they  had  purchased  their  land  from  the  Indians, 
who  were  the  original  and  sole  owners  of  it. 

74.  The  Quakers  purchase  West  Jersey  (1674) ;  William  Penn  ; 
government  of  the  colony ;  religion.  Disappointed  in  his  plans 
of  colonization,  Berkeley  sold  his  share  of  the  territory  (1674)  to 
two  English  Quakers.  Shortly  after  this  transaction  the  colony 
was  divided  (1676)  into  the  equal  portions  of  East  and  West 
Jersey.  Carteret  held  the  eastern  and  the  Quaker  proprietors 
the  western  half  of  the  province. 

William  Penn's  name  now  first  appears  in  American  history. 
He,  with  several  other  English  Quakers,  obtained  (1676)  pos 
session  of.  West  Jersey.  Their  object  was  to  provide  a  refuge 
in  the  New  World  for  their  persecuted  religious  brethren.  A 
settlement  named  Salem  (1676)  was  made  on  the  Delaware,  and 
the  next  year  (1677)  Burlington  was  founded.  Penn,  with  his 
fellow  proprietors,  wrote  to  the  settlers  in  the  true  spirit  of  the 
Golden  Rule,  saying,  "WTe  cannot  suffer  if  you  prosper,  nor 
prosper  while  you  are  injured."  In  their  instructions  to  the 
commissioners  of  West  Jersey  the  proprietors  declared,  "  We  put 
the  power  in  the  people." 

In  accordance  with  this  principle  the  new  proprietors  granted 
the  colonists  a  charter  (1676).  It  was  very  liberal  in  its  pro 
visions.  It  gave  the  people  a  direct  voice  in  making  their  own 
local  laws  and  in  levying  their  own  taxes.2  Unfortunately  the 
l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  31.  2  ibid.,  No.  37. 


1676-1688]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         65 

charter  vested  the  executive  power  of  the  colony  in  a  body  of 
ten  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legislature,  and  in  practice 
it  was  found  that  these  commissioners  generally  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  commonwealth. 

Entire  liberty  of  worship  was  established;  for  the  charter 
declared  that  no  one  "  on  earth  hath  power  to  rule  over  men's 
consciences  in  religious  matters."  But  somewhat  more  than 
twenty  years  later  (1699),  after  the  two  colonies  had  been  united, 
the  people  of  New  Jersey  —  following  the  example  set  by  Eng 
land,  or  perhaps  in  obedience  to  a  mandate  of  the  king  —  refused 
to  tolerate  the  Catholic  faith.  That  law  remained  on  the  statute 
books  of  the  state  for  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  or  until  1844, 
but  it  had  long  been  a  dead  letter. 

75.  The  Quakers  and  the  Indians ;  the  Quakers  buy  East  Jersey ; 
thrift  and   independence.    The   Quakers   completely   gained   the 
confidence  of  the  Indians  by  their  fair  dealing.    The  red  men 
declared  that  if  they  found  an  Englishman  sleeping  in  their  path 
they  would  not  molest  him,  but  would  say  :   "  He  is  an  English 
man  ;  he  is  asleep  ;  let  him  alone." 

When  Carteret  died,  Penn  and  his  associates  purchased  (1682) 
the  whole  of  East  Jersey  for  ^3400,  a  sum  which  would  not  now 
buy  a  first-class  business  lot  in  Jersey  City.  The  colonists  pros 
pered  and  the  governor  reported  (1683),  "There  is  not  a  poor 
body  in  all  the  province." 

Their  spirit  of  independence  was  equal  to  their  thrift.  When 
the  Duke  of  York  endeavored  to  collect  toll  on  vessels  going  up 
the  Delaware,  the  people  refused  to  pay  it.  The  king  of  England 
himself,  said  they,  cannot  take  his  subjects'  goods  without  their 
consent;  still  less  can  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York.  In  the 
decided  stand  the  Quakers  then  took,  those  men  of  peace  antici 
pated  the  utterances  of  the  Revolution. 

76.  Andros ;  New  Jersey  becomes  a  royal  province ;  President 
Witherspoon.    In   1688  »New  Jersey  was  united  with  New  York 
and  New  England  under  the  government  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros. 
After  he  was  forced  to  give  up  his  office  (§  65)  a  period  of  great 


66  THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1702-1765 

confusion  ensued.  New  Jersey  was  claimed  by  New  York,  by  the 
Quakers,  and  by  the  heirs  of  Carteret.  So  hot  was  the  dispute 
that  the  people  in  despair  declared  that  there  was  "  no  shadow 
of  law  or  government  left,"  but  in  the  towns  good  order  still 
prevailed.  For  the  sake  of  peace  the  province  was  surrendered 
(1702)  to  the  crown. 

When  (1765)  England  finally  resolved  to  tax  the  American 
colonists  without  their  consent,  John  Witherspoon,  a  descendant 
of  that  stern  old  Scotch  covenanter,  John  Knox,  led  the  great 
movement  of  revolt  in  New  Jersey.  Later,  after  he  had  accepted 
the  presidency  of  Princeton  College,  he  won  the  reputation  of 
being  "as  high  'a  Son  of  Liberty'  as  any  in  America."  He 
helped  to  overthrow  the  Tory,  William  Franklin,  son  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  the  last  royal  governor  of  the  province. 

Governor  Franklin  declared  that  if  the  colonists  were  right  in 
saying  that  the  British  ministry  had  gone  mad,  the  people  of  New 
Jersey  were  in  the  same  predicament.  But  the  Americans  had 
this  advantage  :  they  at  least  had  method  —  the  method  of  inde 
pendence —  in  their  madness,  and  President  Witherspoon1  with 
other  eminent  patriots,  including  Governor  Franklin's  own  father, 
stood  ready  to  risk  their  fortunes  and  their  lives  to  maintain  that 
independence. 

77.  Summary.  In  1664  the  Duke  of  York  wrested  the  country 
between  the  Hudson  and  the  Delaware  from  the  Dutch  and  sold 
it  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret.  The  colony  received 
the  name  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  first  settlement  was  made  at 
Elizabethtown  (1665).  The  colonists  received  a  constitution 
which  granted  them  liberty  of  conscience  in  matters  of  religion 
and  gave  them  a  voice  in  making  the  laws  and  levying  the  taxes 
of  the  colony.  About  ten  years  later  William  Penn  and  other 
Quakers  purchased  the  western  half  of  New  Jersey  and  subse 
quently  the  remaining  half.  Their  object  was  to  provide  a  refuge 
in  America  for  persecuted  people  of  their  own  faith.  In  1702  the 
colony  became  a  royal  province.  When  (1765)  England  resolved 
1  See  American  Historical  Review,  I,  671. 


1497-1608]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS         67 

to  tax  the  colonists  without  their  consent,  President  Witherspoon 
of  Princeton  College  headed  the  movement  of  revolt  which  culmi 
nated  in  the  war  for  independence. 


IV.  MASSACHUSETTS  (PLYMOUTH  COLONY,  1620) 1 

78.  Religious  revolution  in  England ;  the  Puritans  and  the  Sep 
aratists.  When,  under  Henry  VII,  John  Cabot  (1497)  claimed  the 
continent  of  North  America  for  England  (§  n),  that  kingdom, 
like  all  Europe,  maintained  the  Catholic  religion  as  the  only  true 
faith.  Had  Henry  planted  colonies  in  America,  he  would  have 
established  Catholicism  here  and  would  have  forbidden  any  other 
form  of  worship. 

Under  Henry  VIII  a  revolution  took  place.  He  repudiated 
the  authority  of  the  pope  in  England  and  established  a  new  and 
independent  national  Church,  which  was  compelled  to  acknowl 
edge  the  king  as  its  supreme  head.  Under  Elizabeth  this  new 
national  Church  became  definitively  Protestant,  although  a  con 
siderable  part  of  the  population  continued  to  keep  up  the  Catholic 
form  of  worship  in  private. 

When  James  I  came  to  the  throne  he  found  England  divided 
between  the  Catholics,  the  Anglicans  (or  regular  members  of  the 
established  Episcopal  Church),  the  Puritans,  and  the  Separatists 
(or  Independents).  The  Puritans  were  members  of  the  Estab 
lished  Church  who  regarded  the  Protestant  revolution  in  Eng 
land  as  incomplete.  They  urged  that  the  English  worship  should 
be  "purifed"  (as  they  said)  from  what  Calvin  called  "Popish 
dregs."  They  desired  the  Episcopal  clergy  to  give  up  wearing 
the  surplice,  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  and  using 
the  ring  in  the  marriage  service. 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  viii ;  V,  ch.  ii ;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  vi ;  Arber's 
Story  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  as  told  by  Themselves,  Their  Friends,  and  Their 
Enemies ;  Young's  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims ;  Goodwin's  Pilgrim  Republic ; 
Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc. 


68  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1608- 

The  Separatists  were  a  branch  of  the  Puritans  who  had  gone  a 
step  farther.  "  Seeing,"  as  they  said,  that  "  they  could  not  have 
the  word  freely  preached  and  the  sacraments  administered  without 
idolatrous  gear,  they  concluded  to  break  off  from  public  churches 
and  separate  in  private  houses." 

James  refused  to  permit  any  deviation  from  the  forms  of  public 
worship  established  by  law.  He  believed  that  dissent  would  lead 
to  disloyalty,  and  that  if  divisions  were  tolerated  in  religion  the 
crown  itself  would  be  endangered. 

He  formulated  this  conviction  of  the  indispensable  unity  of 
Church  and  State  in  his  favorite  saying,  "  No  bishop,  no  king." 
His  harsh  laws  drove  both  loyal  Catholics  and  loyal  Puritans  to 
despair.  He  said  of  the  latter  class,  "  I  will  make  them  conform 
or  I  will  harry  them  out  of  the  land."  If  this  was  to  be  the  king's 
policy  toward  the  Puritans  who  still  remained  in  the  Church,  what 
could  the  Separatists  who  had  seceded  from  it  expect? 

79.  A  congregation  of  Separatists  escape  to  Holland ;  why  they 
wished  to  emigrate  to  America.  A  small  congregation  of  Separa 
tists  were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  privately  at  the  house  of  William 
Brewster,  the  postmaster  of  the  village  of  Scrooby,  in  the  north 
eastern  corner  of  Nottinghamshire.  Finding  that  they  could  not 
safely  remain  in  England,  they  resolved  to  go  to  Holland  "  where 
they  had  heard  was  freedom  of  religion  for  all  men."  They  suc 
ceeded  (1608)  in  escaping  from  England  and  in  getting  to  Leyden. 
There  these  plain  English  farmers  learned  different  trades  and 
managed,  by  dint  of  severe  toil,  to  support  themselves  and  their 
families.  Ten  years  later,  some  of  them  began  to  think  of  embark 
ing  for  America.  William  Bradford,  one  of  their  most  prominent 
men,  gives  the  following  reasons  for  their  desire  to  emigrate. 

1 .  The  hardships  of  their  life  were  so  great  that  many  who  had 
come  to  join  them  went  back,  preferring,  as  they  said,  "prisons 
in  England  rather  than  liberty  in  Holland." 

2.  Some  of  them  felt  age  creeping  upon  them,  and  saw  with 
sorrow  that  exhausting  labor  was  rendering  their  children  "decrepit 
in  their  early  youth." 


1608-1        ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS 


69 


3.  Furthermore,  it  was  a  sore  grief  to  parents  to  see  that  often 
times  their  children,  when  they  grew  up,  were  led  astray  by  the 
"manifold  temptations  of  the  place,"  while  others,  leaving  their 
homes,  went  to  sea  or  entered  the  army. 

4.  Finally,  the  Separatists  saw  that  if  they  should  continue  to 
remain  in  Holland  their  descendants  would  in  time  forget  not 


'•f  ORKNEY  IS. 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THE  PURITAN  EMIGRATION  OF  1620  AND  1630 

only  their  native  customs,  but  even  their  native  language,  —  in 
fact,  would  practically  cease  to  be  Englishmen  at  all. 

By  going  to  America  they  hoped  to  build  up  a  strong,  pros 
perous  English  colony,  enjoying  entire  liberty  of  worship  and 
"  advancing  the  gospel  in  those  remote  parts  of  the  world." 
Lastly,  they  hoped,  as  they  said,  to  serve  as  "stepping-stones 
unto  others  for  performing  so  good  a  work."  1 

80.  The  Separatists  and  the  "  merchant  adventurers";  the 
patent;  the  joint-stock  company.  As  the  Separatists  were  too 

1  See  Young's  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims,  45-47. 


70  THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1620 

poor  to  cross  the  Atlantic  at  their  own  expense,  they  bargained 
with  a  body  of  "  merchant  adventurers  "  or  speculators  in  London 
to  provide  vessels  for  them.  A  patent  granted  by  the  Virginia 
Company  gave  them  the  right  to  settle  "  about  Hudson's  River." 

They  agreed  to  take  the  Oaths  of  Supremacy  and  of  Allegiance. 
They  thus  bound  themselves  to  recognize  the  king  as  the  lawful 
head  of  the  Church  of  England  and  as  their  rightful  sovereign. 
James  promised  not  to  interfere  with^  the  undertaking,  and  when 
told  that  the  emigrants  expected  to  get  their  living  by  fishing, 
replied,  with  a  spice  of  humor  :  "  'Tis  an  honest  trade ;  'twas  the 
Apostles'  own  calling." 

A  joint-stock  company  was  organized,  consisting  of  "  merchant 
adventurers"  and  the  outgoing  settlers.  The  price  of  the  shares 
was  fixed  at  £10,  payable  in  money  or  in  work.  All  the  emigrants 
were  to  devote  the  results  of  seven  years'  labor  to  the  "com 
mon  stock."  Out  of  that  stock  they  were  to  receive  "  meat,  drink, 
and  apparel."  "  At  the  end  of  seven  years  ...  the  houses  [and] 
lands  [were]  to  be  equally  divided"  among  the  stockholders; 
each  person  sixteen  years  old  or  upward,  at  the  time  of  sailing, 
to  receive  one  share  of  the  profits.1 

These  were  hard  terms,  for  they  required  the  colonists  to 
pledge  their  whole  time  and  strength  for  a  long  period  and  for 
a  very  uncertain  result.  Some  of  them  indignantly  declared  that 
such  conditions  were  "fitter  for  thieves  and  bondslaves  than 
[for]  honest  men "  ;  but  they  could  get  no  better. 

In  1620  they  left  Leyden  for  England,  there  to  embark  on 
their  voyage  across  the  Atlantic.  It  was  a  perilous  undertaking 
and  the  prospect  of  success  was  small ;  but,  as  Bradford  said, 
"  They  knew  that  they  were  pilgrims,  and  looked  not  much  on 
those  things,  but  lifted  their  eyes  to  heaven,  their  dearest  country, 
and  quieted  their  spirits."  In  his  farewell  sermon  their  faithful 
pastor,  John  Robinson,  spoke  words  of  cheer,  bidding  them  go 
forward  in  the  belief  that  "  the  Lord  had  more  truth  and  light 
yet  to  break  out  of  his  holy  word." 

1  See  Young's  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims,  82. 


1620] 


ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS 


All  told,  the  actual  number  of  Pilgrims  who  set  sail  in  the 
Mayflower  was  less  than  a  hundred.  Among  those  who  went 
with  them  was  Myles  Standish,  an  English  soldier  who  had  fought 
in  the  wars  in  Holland.  He  was  not  a  member  of  the  Pilgrim 
congregation,  but  simply  a  true,  brave-hearted  man,  who  was  glad 
to  cast  his  lot  with  those  who  were  as  brave  and  true-hearted 
as  himself.  Of  the  Pilgrims  proper  the  most  prominent  were 
Bradford,  Brewster,  Winslow,  and  Carver. 

On  reaching  Cape  Cod  the  emigrants  decided  to  settle  on  the 
New  England  coast,  although  their  patent  was  "for  Virginia" 
only.  Knowing  this  fact,  some  of  the  hired  men  threatened  to  use 
their  liberty  as  they  pleased. 
It  seemed  best,  therefore,  to 
form  a  plan  of  union  for  main 
taining  order.  To  this  end 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  drew  up 
a  compact  or  "law  and  order 
league"  (November  21, 
1620)  in  the  cabin  of  the  May 
flower.  By  that  compact,1 
which  received  forty-one 
signatures,  they  formed  them 
selves  into  "  a  civil  body  pol 
itic"  and  bound  themselves  as 
Christians  and  as  loyal  subjects  of  King  James  to  enact  "such 
just  and  equal  laws  ...  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  ...  for  the 
general  good  of  the  colony."  They  then  chose  John  Carver  gov 
ernor.  When  Carver  died  William  Bradford  was  chosen  ;  he  filled 
the  office  for  thirty-one  years. 

Ten  of  the  Pilgrims  explored  the  coast  in  a  sail-boat.  They 
found  a  satisfactory  harbor  and  landed,  December  21,  1620,  on 
that  solitary  granite  bowlder  known  as  Plymouth  Rock.  During  the 
ensuing  winter  death  visited  them  daily.  When  the  Mayflower 
sailed  for  England  in  the  spring  (1621)  nearly  half  of  the  settlers 
i  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  5. 


/2  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1620- 

were  in  their  graves.  But  not  one  of  the  little  band  of  survivors 
thought  of  returning  in  the  ship,  —  they  had  come  here  resolved 
to  make  America  their  home.  Their  nearest  civilized  neighbors 
were  a  few  Dutch  on  the  Hudson  and  the  Virginia  colonists  five 
hundred  miles  south  of  them. 

81.  The    Pilgrims   and  the   Indians.    Governor    Carver  made 
a  treaty  with   Massasoit,   chief  of  a  small  neighboring  tribe  of 
Indians.     The  treaty,  though  not  ratified  by  any  oath,  was  faith 
fully  kept  on  both  sides.    Two  years  later  (1623),  the  Indians  of 
a  tribe  at  Wey mouth,  about  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Plymouth, 
conspired  to  kill  off  a  small  independent  colony  of  English  who 
had  settled  at  that  point  (1622)  and  had  provoked  the  savages  by 
their  bad  conduct.     Massasoit  warned  the  Plymouth  settlers  of 
the  plot,  and  told  them  that  if  successful  the  same  tribe  would 
next  attack  them. 

Captain  Myles  Standish,  small  of  stature  but  great  of  heart, 
with  eight  followers,  marched  against  the  savages  and  soon 
brought  back  the  head  of  one  of  the  leaders.  It  was  the  first 
and  last  Indian  war  in  which  the  Pilgrims  took  part  until  they 
rose  to  put  down  King  Philip  (1675)  more  tnan  nalf  a  century 
later.  The  Indians,  in  fact,  were  most  helpful ;  they  showed  the 
colonists  how  to  plant  corn,  trap  game,  and  catch  fish  to  the  best 
advantage  (§  28). 

82.  The   " Pilgrim  Republic";   freedom  of  worship;   govern 
ment.    The  settlers  at   Plymouth,  though  acknowledging  them 
selves  subjects  of  King  James,  practically  formed  themselves  into 
a  little   republic.     Their  Church  was  bound  by  no  creed.     Its 
members  simply  signed  a  covenant  by  which  they  pledged  them 
selves  "  as  the  Lord's  free  people  ...  to  walk  in  all  his  ways 
made  known,  or  to  be  made  known,  to  them." 

Politically  all  were  equal.  In  the  outset  they  assembled  in 
town  meeting  to  make  necessary  laws,  to  choose  officers  for  the 
colony,  and  to  act  as  a  court  of  justice.  Newcomers  might  take 
part  in  those  meetings  if  a  majority  of  the  original  colonists 
admitted  them  as  "  freemen,"  or  voters ;  but  it  was  decreed  that 


1638-1671]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         73 

no  one  should  settle  within  the  limits  of  Plymouth  except  by 
permission  of  the  governor  or  two  of  his  assistants.  To-day  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  following  that  wise  precedent, 
determines  what  emigrants  may  or  may  not  land  on  our  shores. 

In  time  the  growth  of  the  colony  made  it  inconvenient  for  the 
whole  population  to  gather  in  a  single  town  meeting,  and  each 
of  the  different  settlements  (1638)  sent  two  representatives  to 
Plymouth  to  act  for  them.  But  even  then  the  body  of  the  peo 
ple  expressly  retained  the  right  to  repeal  the  laws  made  by  their 
representatives.  *- 

Later  (1644),  the  right  to  vote  for  a  representative  was  limited 
to  those  who  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  colony,  —  those  who 
refused  to  do  so  were  ordered  to  leave  the  settlement. 

After  the  coming  of  the  Quakers  into  the  neighboring  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  a  statute  (1658)  was  enacted  declaring  that 
persons  of  that  faith  and  all  others  who  "  opposed  the  good  and 
wholesome  laws  of  the  colony  ...  the  true  worship  of  God," 
or  who  refused  to  do  military  service,  should  be  denied  the  right 
of  suffrage.  Finally  (1671),  fifty  years  after  the  founding  of 
Plymouth,  suffrage,  though  not  limited  by  church  membership, 
was  restricted  to  persons  "  of  sober  and  peaceable  conversation, 
orthodox  in  the  fundamentals  of  religion,  and  such  as  have  also 
£20  of  ratable  [taxable]  estate."1 

The  sturdy  independence  of  the  colonists  manifested  itself  in 
a  declaration  which  the  Legislature  of  the  "  Pilgrim  Republic  " 
made  in  1671.  That  body  then  resolved  that  "as  free-born  sub 
jects  of  the  state  of  England  ...  no  act  ...  shall  be  ...  imposed 
upon  us  at  present  or  to  come,  but  such  as  shall  be  made  ...  by 
consent  of  the  body  of  freemen  ...  or  their  representatives, 
legally  assembled." 

83.  The  "  merchant  adventurers";  Myles  Standish  goes  to 
England;  the  Pilgrims  become  free  men.  The  growth  of  the 
colony  was  very  slow.  Lack  of  capital  prevented  the  settlers 
from  engaging  in  cod  fishing,  and  the  chief  exports  were  furs 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  280;  Brigham's  "General  Laws"  of  Plymouth,  258. 


74          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [162>-1691 

obtained  from  the  Indians.  The  "  merchant  adventurers,"  who 
were  grievously  disappointed  at  the  small  returns  received,  at 
length  refused  to  do  anything  more  to  aid  the  colonists,  though 
they  insisted  on  holding  them  to  their  labor  contract.  Governor 
Bradford  wrote  that  the  "  adventurers  "  finally  threatened  in  their 
anger  "  that  if  we  ever  do  grow  to  any  good  estate  they  will  nip 
us  in  the  head." 

In  these  straits  the  Plymouth  people  sent  Captain  Myles 
Standish  (1625).  to  England  to  seek  help.  He  could  not  get  the 
contract  canceled,  but  succeeded  at  length  in  borrowing  ^150 
for  the  use  of  the  colonists  at  fifty  per  cent  interest. 

The  next  year  (1626)  the  "merchant  adventurers"  sold  out 
their  share  to  the  colonists  for  ^£1800,  —  equal  probably  to  more 
than  $30,000  now, —  to  be  paid  in  nine  annual  installments.  The 
attempt  to  hold  property  in  common  had  completely  broken  down. 

Then  the  whole  colony  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and  in  six 
years  had  discharged  the  debt  and  were  free  men.  In  future  all 
that  they  earned  was  their  own.  Meanwhile  they  tried  to  obtain 
a  royal  charter  which  should  give  them  power  to  regularly  organize 
a  government.  In  this  they  failed  ;  but  they  obtained  a  patent 
from  the  Council  of  New  England  which  granted  them  a  certain 
fixed  territory  (1629),  but  nothing  more. 

84.  The  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  absorbs  Plymouth  Colony 
(1691).  In  1630  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  settled  Boston. 
The  growth  of  the  new  colony  was  comparatively  rapid,  and  after 
a  time  the  people  of  Massachusetts  endeavored  to  secure  the 
annexation  of  Plymouth.  But  the  Plymouth  people  preferred  to 
stand  by  themselves ;  as  one  of  their  chief  men  quaintly  said, 
the  best  of  them  had  no  desire  "  to  trot  after  the  Bay  horse." 
Massachusetts,  however,  succeeded  in  her  plans,  and  in  1691  a 
royal  charter  consolidated  the  two  colonies.  This,  of  course, 
ended  the  history  of  Plymouth  as  a  distinct  colony.  But  the 
little  Pilgrim  republic  had  made  its  record  and  could  afford  to 
merge  its  political  life  in  that  of  the  stronger  and  richer  Puritan 
commonwealth. 


1628-]        ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  75 

The  Pilgrims  were  the  first  settlers  who  obtained  a  permanent 
foothold  on  the  New  England  coast.  In  religious  matters  they 
showed  remarkable  tolerance.  They  too  were  the  first  colonists 
of  the  New  World  who  established  the  management  of  all  public 
affairs  in  town  meeting.  Thereby  they  laid  the  foundation  in 
America  of  that  democratic  system  which  ripened  in  time  into 
"  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people." 

IVtf.  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY  COLONY  (I63O)1 

85.  The  Puritan  emigration  to  New  England;  John  Endicott ; 
charter  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  The  emigration  (1620)  of 
the  Pilgrims  to  America  (§  80)  was  the  forerunner  of  a  far  greater 
emigration  on  the  part  of  the  Puritans  ten  years  later. 

Political  and  religious  persecution  drove  them  to  seek  a  refuge 
in  New  England.  John  Endicott,  a  Puritan  of  the  Puritans,  con 
ducted  the  first  party  of  emigrants  (1628)  to  a  point  on  the  shores 
of  Massachusetts  to  which  they  gave  the  biblical  name  of  Salem. 
In  his  fiery  zeal  Endicott  (1635)  slashed  the  red  cross  out  of  the 
English  flag,  because  it  seemed  to  him  an  emblem  of  popery ;  and 
he  shipped  two  members  of  his  Council  back  to  England  for  insist 
ing  on  making  use  of  the  Episcopal  prayer  book  in  public  worship. 

The  year  after  Endicott  sailed,  a  number  of  wealthy  and  influ 
ential  Puritans  obtained  a  royal  charter 2  granting  them  all  the  ter 
ritory  in  New  England  lying  between  a  point  three  miles  north  of 
the  Merrimac  River  and  a  point  three  miles  south  of  the  Charles 
River.  Westward  the  grant  extended  to  the  Pacific. 

This  charter  empowered  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  of 
England  (i)  to  make  laws,  provided  they  should  not  be  "con 
trary  to  the  laws  of  England";  (2)  to  carry  on  trade;  (3)  to 

iSee  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  ix;  V,  ch.  ii ;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  vi-vii. 
Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.;  Winsor's  History  of  Boston;  Hildreth's  United 
States;  Doyle's  Puritan  Colonies;  Palfrey's  New  England;  Fiske's  Beginnings  of 
New  England ;  Barry's  Massachusetts ;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era ;  B.  Adams'  Emanci 
pation  of  Massachusetts;  C.  F.  Adams'  Episodes  of  Massachusetts  History. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  8. 


SCALE  or    MILEH 


;6  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1630- 

drive  out  obnoxious  persons  and  intruders.  Nothing  was  said 
about  the  establishment  of  any  form  of  worship  or  of  religious 
liberty.  It  was  practically  the  charter  of  a  trading  company,  and 
it  seems  to  have  been  understood  that  the  government  of  the 
colony  was  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  corporation  in  England. 
86.  John  Winthrop ;  settlement  of  Boston  (1630);  large  emigra 
tion  ;  the  Puritan  Church ;  Puritan  government.  John  Winthrop, 
a  man  of  wealth  and  education,  was  elected  (1629)  governor  of  the 
Company.  Believing,  as  he  said,  that  the  Puritans  had  "  no  place 
left  to  fly  unto  but  the  wilderness,"  he  quietly  took  the  charter 
with  him  and  led  nearly  a  thousand  emigrants  (1630)  from  Eng 
land  to  Massachusetts. 
Not  liking  Salem,  Winthrop 
went  to  Charlestown  ;  a 
little  later,  the  colonists 
moved  across  the  river  to 
the  three-peaked  peninsula 
of  Shawmut,  which  they  named  Boston  (1630).  Several  other 
settlements  were  made,  and  each  of  these  towns  managed  its  own 
local  affairs  in  town  meeting.  In  fact,  each  one  was  "  a  little 
republic,  almost  complete  in  itself." 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  settlers  was  to  form  a  covenant 
Church  similar  to  that  of  Plymouth  (§  82).  Two  Puritan  minis 
ters  were  chosen,  and  all  the  inhabitants  were  to  be  assessed  to 
pay  for  the  "  maintenance  of  these  ministers."  Before  the  end 
of  the  year  a  thousand  more  emigrants,  bringing  many  "  indented 
servants  "  (§  42 ),  arrived,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  ten  years 
(1630-1640)  more  than  twenty  thousand  colonists  settled  in  New 
England.  They  were  men  who  came  not  from  hope  of  gain  but 
to  obtain  that  religious  and  political  liberty  which  was  denied  them 
at  home.  They  represented  the  flower  of  English  Puritanism. 

The  original  colonists  (that  is,  the  stockholders  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Bay  Company)  established  a  government  which  was 
practically  independent  of  both  king  and  parliament.  By  the 
provisions  of  the  charter  the  "freemen,"  or  legal  voters,  were  to 


1630-1641]      ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS        77 

elect  a  governor,  deputy  governor,  and  a  council  of  eighteen 
assistants.  This  governing  body  was  to  meet  in  a  "general 
court,"  or  legislature,  and  make  all  needful  laws,  not  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  England. 

87.  Alteration  in  the  form  of  government;  limitation  of  suf 
frage  ;  the  "  freeman's  oath."    At  the  first  meeting  of  the  General 
Court  (1630)  the  form  of  government  was  altered.     The  freemen 
agreed  to  surrender  a  part  of  their  political  power  and  to  let  the 
assistants  choose  the  governor  and  his  deputy  from  their  own  num 
ber.     But  less  than  two  years  later,  the  freemen  (1632)  took  this 
power  out  of  the  hands  of  the  assistants  and  resumed  their  charter 
right  to  elect  the  governor  and  deputy  governor  by  choosing  such 
persons  as  they  deemed  fit. 

In  the  meantime  a  large  number  of  men  had  petitioned  the 
General  Court  to  be  permitted  to  vote.  Their  request  was  granted 
on  their  taking  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  colonial  government. 
Later  (1643), tne  clause  of  the  magistrates'  oath  requiring  the  gov 
ernor  and  assistants  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  king  was  dropped, 
and  for  many  years  all  public  recognition  of  royal  authority  ceased 
in  Massachusetts. 

88.  Important  laws  enacted ;  suffrage  limited  to  church  members 
(1631);  the  "Body  of  Liberties"  of  1641;  liberal  measures.    In 
1631    two   very   important  laws    were    enacted.     Following    the 
example  set  by  Plymouth  (§  82),  the  authorities  prohibited  any 
person  from  settling  within  the  territory  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
without  leave  from  the  Company. 

Secondly,  suffrage  was  limited  by  the  following  statute :  "  To 
the  end  [that]  the  body  of  the  commons  may  be  preserved  of 
honest  and  good  men  ...  no  man  shall  be  admitted  to  the  free 
dom  of  this  body  politic  [that  is,  no  one  could  become  a  citizen 
and  a  voter],  but  such  as  are  members  of  some  of  the  churches 
within  the  limits  of  the  same."1  This  law  practically  made  the 
church  members  of  the  colony,  and  not  the  towns,  the  real  unit 
of  government  (§  174). 

1  See  Massachusetts  Records,  I,  87. 


1634-]         ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  79 

raising  of  public  money,  and  to  take  part  in  making  all  needful 
laws.  Thus  Massachusetts  became  the  second  English  colony 
(§  43)  to  obtain  the  privilege  of  representative  government ;  but 
in  this  case  it  was  the  work  of  the  people  themselves,  not,  as  in 
Virginia,  the  gift  of  a  company  resident  in  England. 

The  avowed  purpose  of  the  settlers  of  Massachusetts  was  to 
establish  an  independent  Puritan  state  composed  of  those,  and 
those  only,  who  professed  their  faith.  They  believed  themselves 
to  be  a  divinely  chosen  people.  "  God  sifted  a  whole  nation," 
said  Governor  Stoughton,  "  that  he  might  send  choice  grain 
over  into  this  wilderness."  Their  intention,  Governor  Winthrop 
declared,  was  "  to  square  all  their  proceedings  by  the  rule  of 
God's  word  "  as  they  understood  it.  They  contended  that  their 
charter  gave  them  the  exclusive  ownership  and  control  of  Mas 
sachusetts  (subject  of  course  to  the  king),  and  in  that  charter, 
they  believed  they  found  authority  to  expel  any  one  who  should 
attempt  "  annoyance  to  said  colony." 

90.  Results  of  the  exclusive  policy  of  Massachusetts ;  resist 
ance  to  the  king.  But  this  exclusive  policy  had  very  important 
political  results  :  (i)  it  moved  the  king  to  demand  the  surrender 
of  the  Massachusetts  charter ;  (2)  it  roused  the  colonists  to  evade 
or  resist  that  demand,  which  they  did  with  entire  success  for  more 
than  half  a  century ;  (3)  on  the  other  hand,  the  restriction  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  to  church  members  (§88)  endangered  the  sta 
bility  of  the  colonial  government.  Only  about  one  fourth  of  the 
adult  male  inhabitants  belonged  to  the  Church,  and  the  result 
was  that  three  quarters  of  the  men  of  Massachusetts  had  to 
submit,  or  preferred  to  submit,  to  laws  which  were  made  and 
enforced  by  the  remaining  quarter. 

The  first  demonstration  of  resistance  to  the  king  was  unmis 
takable.  When  he  (1634)  threatened  to  take  away  the  charter, 
the  Massachusetts  authorities  took  decisive  action.  They  ordered 
new  forts  to  be  built  and  an  alarm  signal  to  be  set  up  on  Beacon 
Hill  in  Boston.  Furthermore  they  commanded  that  citizens 
should  be  drilled  in  the  use  of  arms,  and  they  encouraged  the 


80  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1634- 

casting  of  bullets  by  making  them  pass  current  as  money  at  the 
rate  of  a  farthing  each.1  Finally,  to  prevent  the  king's  spies  from 
reporting  what  they  were  doing,  they  passed  a  law  (1637)  order 
ing  that  no  stranger  or  suspicious  character  should  be  permitted 
to  remain  in  the  colony.2 

91.  Roger  Williams  attacks  the  charter  and  the  laws ;  he  flies 
to  Narragansett  Bay.  At  this  critical  period,  when  the  charter 
was  in  peril,  a  new  trouble  arose.  Roger  Williams,  an  impetuous 
young  Separatist  minister  (§  78),  had  come  over  (1631)  from 
England  to  Boston.  The  Puritan  churches  had  not  yet  openly 
broken  off  all  connection  with  the  Church  of  England.  Williams 
blamed  them  for  not  taking  this  final  step.  After  preaching  for  a 
time  in  Salem,  he  removed  to  Plymouth  and  labored  for  the  con 
version  of  the  Indians.  While  in  the  "  Old  Colony "  Williams 
wrote  a  book,  apparently  not  intended  for  publication,  in  which 
he  attacked  the  Massachusetts  charter.  He  declared  that  since 
the  territory  belonged  originally  to  the  Indians,  the  king  had  no 
power  to  grant  it  to  the  colonists. 

Later,  he  withdrew  this  attack  and  even  offered  his  book  "  to 
be  burnt " ;  but  he  now  assailed  the  authorities  on  another  point. 
The  General  Court  had  ordered  (1634-1635)  that  every  man, 
whether  a  church  member  or  not,  should  swear  to  obey  the  laws 
and  to  defend  the  colony.  Those  who  twice  refused  to  take  this 
oath  were  to  be  banished. 

Williams,  who  had  returned  to  Salem,  preached  against  this  law. 
He  declared  that  the  Puritan  authorities  had  no  moral  right  to 
force  an  unconverted  person  to  take  an  oath.  He  also  denied 
their  right  to  punish  those  who  refused  to  attend  religious  meet 
ings,  or  who  violated  the  first  four  commandments,  except  "in 
such  cases  as  did  disturb  the  civil  peace." 

The  General  Court  summoned  the  preacher  to  retract,  but  he 

stood  fast  in  his  "  rocky  strength."    The  Court  then  (1635)  ordered 

him  to  leave  the  colony,  but  finally  allowed  him  to  remain  until 

spring,  provided  he   did   not  "  go  about  to  draw  others  to  his 

1  See  Massachusetts  Records,  I,  137.  2  jbid.,  I,  196. 


1635-1637]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS          8 1 

opinions."  Mr.  Williams  insisted  on  preaching  in  his  own  house 
on  the  prohibited  points,  and  the  authorities  dispatched  a  con 
stable  to  arrest  him.1  He  fled  through  winter  snows,  and  at  the 
peril  of  his  life,  to  the  hospitable  hut  of  Massasoit  (§  81)  on  Nar- 
ragansett  Bay.  He  remained  in  that  chief's  smoky  wigwam  until 
spring,  when  he  went  forth  and  founded  (1636)  the  colony  of 
Providence. 

92.  The  case  of  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson.  The  Puritan  authorities 
had  next  to  deal  with  a  case  more  aggravating  even  than  that 
of  Roger  Williams.  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  a  woman  of  "  ready 
wit  and  bold  spirit,"  had  formed  a  kind  of  woman's  club  to  dis 
cuss  the  sermons  preached  in  Boston  and  vicinity.  All  went  well 
until  Mrs.  Hutchinson  began  to  indulge  in  sharp  criticism.  She 
commended  the  teaching  of  her  friend,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Cotton, 
and  of  her  brother-in-law,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Wheelwright,  but  she 
declared  that  the  other  ministers  made  altogether  too  much. of 
religious  ceremonies  and  church  attendance  and  not  half  enough 
of  faith. 

The  discussion  waxed  so  hot  that  Winthrop  said  the  colonists 
were  split  into  two  hostile  parties, — one  of  "works"  and  the 
other  of  "  faith."  A  company  of  militia  who  were  about  to 
march  against  the  Indians  were  unwilling  to  move  because  their 
chaplain  was  accused  of  being  "  under  a  covenant  of  works," 
—  or,  in  other  words,  of  being  more  Jew  than  Christian.  Next 
the  dispute  got  into  politics,  and  there  was  a  Hutchinson  and  an 
Anti-Hutchinson  candidate  for  governor. 

Finally,  a  meeting  of  ministers  formally  accused  Mrs.  Hutch 
inson  of  teaching  no  less  than  twenty-nine  "cursed  opinions." 
Her  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Wheelwright,  who  was  said  to  hold  the 
same  dangerous  views,  was  convicted  of  sedition,  heresy,  and 
contempt,  and  was  banished  (1637)  from  the  colony.  He  went 
with  some  friends  to  New  Hampshire  and  founded  Exeter. 

When  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  brought  to  trial,  she  declared 
that  God  had  revealed  himself  directly  to  her.  "  How?  "  asked 

i  See  Palfrey's  New  England,  I,  ch.  x,  405-412 ;  Arnold's  Rhode  Island,  I,  27-39. 


82  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1635-1G47 

her  examiners.  "  By  the  voice  of  his  own  spirit  to  my  soul,"  she 
replied.  She  was  expelled  from  the  Church,  "  given  over  to 
Satan,"  and  banished.  She,  with  her  husband  and  some  friends, 
made  a  settlement  on  Rhode  Island. 

93.  The  Boston  Latin  School  (1635);  Harvard  College  (1636); 
establishment  of  public  schools  (1647).  Meanwhile  the  people  of 
Massachusetts  were  taking  action  for  the  instruction  of  those  who 
were  to  succeed  them.  Some  citizens  of  Boston  (1635)  founded 
the  Boston  Latin  School,  —  the  oldest  educational  institution 
established  by  English  settlers  in  the  United  States  (§  59). 
Among  the  early  pupils  of  that  justly  celebrated  school  we  find 
the  names  of  Benjamin  Franklin  and  Samuel  Adams,  two  of  the 
stanchest  patriots  America  ever  produced. 

The  next  autumn  the  General  Court  voted  ^400  —  a  large 
sum  for  the  colonists  of  that  day  —  to  found  a  college.  Two 
years  later  (1638),  Reverend  John  Harvard  left  property  to  it 
valued  at  ^£7  50,  and  gave  to  it  his  valuable  library.  In  honor 
of  these  bequests  the  institution  was  named  Harvard  College. 
This  Puritan  university  was  wholly  unsectarian.  Its  first  seal  had 
for  its  motto  the  single  expressive  Latin  word  Veritas^ 

The  next  year  (1639)  — the  same  year  in  which  the  first  press 
in  the  English  colonies  was  established  at  Cambridge  —  the  citi 
zens  of  Dorchester  ordered  that  a  free  school  should  be  set  up  in 
that  town.  Like  the  Boston  Latin  School,  it  was  for  boys  only ; 
girls  then,  and  for  many  years  to  come,  received  all  their  instruc 
tion  at  home. 

In  1647  the  General  Court  took  action  on  a  broad  scale.  It 
declared  :  In  order  "  that  learning  may  not  be  buried  in  the 
grave  of  our  fathers  "  every  township  of  fifty  householders  shall 
hire  a  schoolmaster  "  to  teach  all  such  children  as  shall  resort  to 
him  to  write  and  read."  2  The  wages  of  the  teacher  were  to  be 
paid  in  such  manner  as  the  people  should  determine  in  town 
meeting. 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  I,  No.  137. 

2  See  Massachusetts  Records,  II,  203. 


1643-]        ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  83 

This  law  of  1647  established  public  schools  that  in  time  were 
to  become  "  cheap  enough  for  all,  and  good  enough  for  the 
best."  It  laid  the  foundation  of  the  free  common-school  system 
of  the  United  States. 

94.  The  New  England  Confederation  (1643).    In  1643  tne  four 
colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and  New 
Haven  formed  a  political  and  religious  Confederation.1     Its  four 
chief  objects  were  to  keep  the   Dutch   out  of  the  Connecticut 
Valley,  to  put  down  insurrections  of  the  Indians,  to  apprehend 
fugitives  from  justice,  assist  masters  to  recover  runaway  appren 
tices  and  slaves,  and  to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  orthodox  faith. 

But  more  than  this,  the  people  of  these  four  colonies  felt  that 
such  a  union  would  help  them  to  maintain  their  liberties  in  case 
the  king  should  threaten  them.  The  Confederation  lasted  about 
forty  years,  but  its  importance  practically  ceased  in  half  that 
time.  It  was  a  prophecy  of  that  union  of  all  the  colonies  which 
was  formed  late  in  the  next  century  and  which  was  destined  to 
secure  American  independence. 

95.  George  Fox   founds   the   Society  of   Friends   or  Quakers. 
Shortly  after  the  New  England  Confederation  went  into  operation, 
George   Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  began  to 
preach  in  England.     He  declared  that  God  makes  himself  known 
directly  to  the  human  heart,  and  that  whoever  follows  this  divine 
" inner  light"  is  sure  of  salvation.     The  Puritans  regarded  the 
Bible  as  the  supreme  rule  of  life.     In  their  eyes  George  Fox  was 
a  revolutionist,  striking  at  the  very  foundations  of  both  Church 
and   Scripture.     But  more  than  this,  he   seemed   to  most  men 
of  that  age  to  threaten  to  destroy  the  bonds  that  hold  society 
together.     They  accused  him  of  "  troubling  the  world  by  preach 
ing  peace  to  it." 

(i)  The  Quakers  conscientiously  refused  to  take  any  form  of 
oath.     They  would  not  give  .evidence  in  this  way  in  a  court  of 
justice  or  swear  allegiance  to  any  form  of  government.    (2)  Believ 
ing  that  war  was  wrong,  they  would  not  bear  arms  in  defense  of 
See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  19. 


84  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1656- 

the  state  or  of  their  own  homes.  (3)  They  refused  to  pay  taxes 
for  the  support  of  any  ministry  or  church.  (4)  Believing  that  all 
men  are  equal  in  the  sight  of  God,  they  refused  to  address  any 
one,  no  matter  what  his  rank,  by  any  other  title  than  that  of 
"Friend";  they  spoke  rudely  to  magistrates;  they  insisted  on 
keeping  on  their  hats  in  courts,  and  would  not  take  them  off *  to 
the  king  himself.  They  were  mercilessly  treated  in  England  ;  and 
some  of  them,  driven  half-crazy  by  brutal  punishments,  indulged  in 
actions  which  to-day  would  be  regarded  as  proof  of  insanity.  The 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  hearing  of  these  things,  ordered 
(1656)  that  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  should  be  kept  for  fear 
that  the  teachings  of  the  English  Quakers  should  spread  abroad. 

96.  Arrival  of  Quaker  missionaries  (1656)  ;  action  against 
Quakers ;  Episcopalians  and  Baptists.  Shortly  after  this  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer  two  Quaker  women  arrived  (1656)  at  Boston. 
They  came  to  convert  the  New  England  colonists.  The  authori 
ties  threw  them  into  jail,  burned  their  books,  and  as  soon  as 
possible  sent  them  to  the  West  Indies. 

The  General  Court  believed  that  the  charter  of  the  colony  em 
powered  them  to  exclude  all  persons  whom  they  considered  to 
be  obnoxious.  In  accordance  with  that  conviction  they  enacted 
(1656)  a  severe  law  against  the  "cursed  sect  of  heretics  .  .  . 
commonly  called  Quakers."  The  act  imposed  a  fine  of  ^100 
on  the  master  of  any  vessel  who  should  bring  one  of  these 
people  into  the  colony,  and  it  ordered  that  every  Quaker  who 
entered  Massachusetts  should  be  severely  flogged  and  then  kept 
in  close  confinement  until  he  could  be  sent  to  distant  parts.2 

But  neither  cruel  scourgings,  nor  the  cutting  off  of  ears,  nor 
threats  of  worse  punishments  could  keep  out  these  fervent  apostles 
of  the  "  inner  light."  They  believed  it  to  be  as  much  their  duty 
to  preach  to  the  Puritan  Fathers  as  the  Puritans  believed  it  theirs 
to  preach  to  the  savages. 

1  See  Gardiner's  History  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  III,  106-110  ;  Bryant  and 
Gay's  United  States,  II,  174. 

2  See  Hazard's  State  Papers,  I,  630,  or  Massachusetts  Records,  III,  415. 


1658-1677]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         85 

Baffled  and  exasperated,  the  General  Court  finally  resolved, 
as  they  said,  "  to  present  the  point  of  the  sword  toward  the 
Quakers,"  and  let  them  rush  on  it  if  they  would.  An  act  was 
passed  (1658)  making  it  death  for  a  banished  Quaker  to  return 
to  the  colony.  The  principle  was  not  new,  for  a  similar  law 
respecting  Jesuit  and  other  Catholic  priests  had  been  on  the 
Massachusetts  statute  books  for  many  years. 

Under  this  act  four  Quakers  —  one  of  whom  was  a  woman  — 
who  had  come  back  after  having  been  twice  banished  were  hanged 
on  Boston  Common  (I66I).1  These  were  the  first  and  also  the 
last  persons  of  this  faith  who  were  put  to  death  in  Massachusetts. 
But  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  later  the  English  authorities 
were  killing  Covenanters  by  hundreds,  and  drowning  women  in 
Scotland  for  refusing  to  conform  to  the  Established  Church. 

The  last  exciting  case  of  Quaker  missionary  work  was  that  of 
Margaret  Brewster  (1677).  She  entered  the  Old  South  Meeting 
house  in  Boston  during  the  Sunday  service.  Margaret  was 
dressed  in  sackcloth,  her  face  was  smeared  with  lampblack,  and 
her  head  covered  with  ashes.  She  had  come,  she  said,  like  the 
prophet  Jonah,  to  call  the  people  of  Boston  to  repent.  Judge 
Samuel  Sewall,  who  was  present,  says  in  his  diary  that  her  sudden 
appearance  "  occasioned  the  greatest  and  most  amazing  uproar 
that  I  ever  saw."  Margaret  was  condemned  to  be  tied  to  a 
cart's  tail  and  whipped  through  the  streets.  With  her  the  con 
flict  ended,  and  the  Puritans  gave  up  trying  to  silence  these  new 
missionaries.  Quaker  persistence  and  Quaker  nonresistance  had 
fairly  carried  the  day. 

Meanwhile  the  Massachusetts  authorities  had  sent  (1660)  a 
most  humble,  not  to  say  servile,  address  to  the  king2  in  which 
they  professed  their  entire  loyalty.  But  in  a  declaration  of  their 
charter  rights  which  they  drew  up  the  following  year  they  took  a 
very  decided  stand.8  In  that  document  they  claimed  the  power 
to  defend  the  colony  against  all  persons  who  should  attempt  to 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  I,  Nos.  140-142. 

2  See  Hazard's  State  Papers,  II,  579.  8  Ibid.,  II,  591. 


86  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1675-1676 

annoy  it,  and  they  added  a  protest  against  the  recent  Navigation 
Act  (§  48).  Later  (1662),  they  promised  His  Majesty  not  to 
drive  out  any  more  Episcopalians  (§  85). 

Baptists  had  been  forbidden  to  preach  and  had  been  repeatedly 
banished.  President  Dunster  of  Harvard  College  had  embraced 
certain  Baptist  views.  He  was  compelled  to  resign  (1654)  and  to 
give  bonds  not  to  preach.  But  by  1674  toleration  so  far  prevailed 
that  a  member  of  that  denomination  wrote,  "  The  church  of  the 
baptized  [at  East  Boston]  do  peaceably  enjoy  their  liberty." 

The  Catholics  first  began  public  worship  in  the  colony  after  the 
establishment  of  our  national  independence.  The  Unitarians  and 
Universalists  obtained  toleration  about  the  same  time  with  the 
Catholics. 

97.  Eliot's  work  among  the  Indians ;  his  Indian  Bible.    The 
Reverend  John  Eliot  of  Roxbury  —  "the  Apostle  to  the  Indians  " 

—  had  long  been  engaged  (1646—1675)  in  his  noble  work.  He 
believed  that  the  red  men  were  the  descendants  of  the  lost  tribes 
of  Israel.  He  founded  a  settlement  (1651)  of  "  Praying  Indians " 
at  Natick,  and  (1653)  he  published,  after  many  "heart  breakings" 
and  years  of  toil,  his  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  Indian 
language.  It  was  the  first  Bible  printed  by  an  English  colonist 
on  the  American  continent.  In  the  terrible  King  Philip's  War 
a  number  of  Eliot's  "  Praying  Indians  "  acted  as  military  guides 
to  the  whites,  while  others  fought  in  behalf  of  the  colony. 

98.  King  Philip's  War  (1675-1676) ;  cause  of  the  war ;  events ; 
results.    So  long  as  Massasoit  (§  81)  lived  he  remained  friendly 
to  the  whites ;  but  his  son,  "  King  Philip,"  had  no  love  for  them. 
The    colonists    had   purchased   Indian   territory  until   they  had 
crowded  Philip's  tribe  into  two  or  three  narrow  necks  of  land 
projecting  into  Narragansett  Bay.    The  savage  chief  saw  that  the 
time  was  soon  coming  when  the  English  would  own  all  the  hunt 
ing  grounds,  and  when  his  people  must  emigrate,  starve,  or  fight. 
He  chose  to  fight. 

Philip  looked  upon  Eliot's  "  soft-hearted  *  Praying  Indians  '  " 
(§97)  with  suspicion  and  contempt.  One  of  these  Indians  told 


1675-1676]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          87 


the  governor  of  Plymouth  that  "  King  Philip  "  was  preparing  to 
make  war.  Some  of  that  chief's  followers  murdered  the  informer. 
The  Plymouth  authorities  arrested  and  hanged  them.  Philip 
retaliated  by  an  attack  (1675)  on  Swansea,  the  town  nearest  his 
headquarters  at  Mount  Hope. 

For  some  time  the  war  was  confined  to  southern  Massachusetts 
and  vicinity,  but  gradually  the  Indian  tribes  in  the  western  part 
.of  the  colony  joined  Philip.  It  now  became  evident  that  the 
struggle  was  to  be  a  desperate  one,  especially  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley,  where  the  white  settlements  were  small  and  scattered. 

The  colonists  had  the  advantage  in  numbers  and  in  arms,  but  the 
Indians  knew  the  forests  perfectly,  they  were  as  quick  and  stealthy 
as  wild-cats,  and  they  were  pretty  well  supplied  with  muskets. 
Brookfield  and  Deerfield 
were  attacked  and  burned, 
but  Hadley  escaped.  Ac 
cording  to  tradition  that 
town  was  saved  by  the  sud 
den  appearance  of  a  vener 
able  white-haired  man  who 
rallied  the  inhabitants  and 
drove  off  the  savages.  The 
mysterious  leader  then  dis 
appeared.  He  was  the 
regicide  Goffe  (§116), 
who  had  long  lived  con- 
cealed  in  the  town.  A  few 

weeks  later  (1675)  the  Indians  surprised  and  cut  to  pieces  a  body 
of  ninety  men  —  "the  very  flower  of  Essex"  —  at  "Bloody 
Brook,"  near  Deerfield.  Then  the  New  Englanders  resolved  to 
"  root  this  nest  of  serpents  out  of  the  world." 

The  next  winter  a  colonial  force,  a  thousand  strong,  burst  into 
the  Indian  fort  of  the  Narragansetts  on  the  west  shore  of  Narra- 
gansett  Bay.  They  set  fire  to  the  wigwams  in  the  inclosure,  and 
scores  of  Indians  —  helpless  old  men,  women,  and  children  — 


88  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [167<M684 

perished  in  the  flames.  On  the  other  hand,  the  savages  burned 
(1676)  Lancaster,  Groton,  Marlborough,  Medfield,  and  smaller 
towns.  The  temper  of  the  Indians  was  illustrated  by  Canonchet, 
chief  of  the  Narragansetts.  He  was  captured,  and  when  told  he 
was  to  be  shot,  he  answered,  "  I  like  it  well,  I  shall  die  before 
my  heart  becomes  soft." 

A  little  later,  Captain  Turner  of  Boston  gained  a  great  victory 
over  the  savages  near  Turner's  Falls  on  the  Connecticut.  Then 
the  Indians  saw  that  fate  was  against  them  and  they  began  to  lay 
down  their  arms  and  beg  for  peace. 

It  was  the  custom  in  England  to  sell  prisoners  taken  in  the 
civil  wars.  Following  this  example,  the  colonists  sold  many  of 
their  red  captives  as  slaves  to  the  planters  of  the  West  Indies. 
King  Philip's  wife,  and  his  son,  a  boy  of  nine,  were  disposed  of 
in  this  manner.  Not  long  afterward,  Captain  Church  of  Ply 
mouth,  a  famous  fighter,  surprised  Philip  near  Mount  Hope. 
The  savage  "king"  was  shot  by  one  of  his  own  men  who  had 
turned  against  him.  At  last,  as  Cotton  Mather  said,  the  colonists 
"  had  prayed  the  bullet  into  his  heart."  The  death  of  the  great 
chief  virtually  ended  the  contest.  This  was  the  last  war  between 
the  whites  and  the  natives  in  southern  New  England,  —  the 
power  of  the  Indians  in  that  section  was  broken  forever. 

The  losses  of  the  war  were  very  heavy.  More  than  half  of  the 
towns  in  Massachusetts  had  been  burned,  and  a  tenth  of  all  the 
fighting  men  in  New  England  had  either  fallen  in  battle  or  had 
been  carried  off  captive.  Plymouth  Colony  suffered  most  of  all. 
Its  war  debt  exceeded  in  value  the  entire  personal  property  of  the 
inhabitants,  but  by  years  of  toil  they  at  last  paid  off  every  dollar 
of  it,  principal  and  interest. 

99.  Charles  II  and  the  Massachusetts  Colonial  charter ;  the  char 
ter  falls  (1684).  But  Massachusetts  had  next  to  deal  with  some 
one  far  greater  than  "King  Philip."  Charles  II  confirmed  (1662) 
the  Massachusetts  charter  on  five  conditions:  (i)  the  colonists 
were  to  repeal  all  laws  contrary  to  those  of  England  ;  (2)  they  were 
to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance ;  (3)  justice  was  to  be  administered 


1684-1688]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          89 

in  the  king's  name ;  (4)  liberty  of  worship  was  to  be  granted  to 
Episcopalians ;  (5)  all  persons  of  respectable  character,  competent 
estate,  and  orthodox  in  religion  were  to  be  allowed  to  vote.1 

The  General  Court  had  partially  complied  with  the  order  respect 
ing  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  king's  name,  but  not  with 
the  other  demands.  The  commonwealth  still  refused  to  permit 
appeals  from  the  colonial  courts  to  the  royal  courts  in  England. 

Commissioners  were  now  (1664)  sent  over  by  the  king  to  hear 
complaints.  Plymouth  Colony,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut 
agreed  to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  crown,  but  Massachusetts 
refused  to  permit  the  commissioners  to  sit  as  a  court  of  appeal. 

Later,  however,  in  the  hope  of  saving  their  charter,  the  General 
Court  ordered  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king  to  be  administered. 
This  submission,  however,  made  little  difference  in  the  end ;  for 
Charles  was  determined  to  rule  absolutely  and  to  leave  no  char 
tered  rights  in  England  or  in  the  colonies  to  resist  his  will. 

Massachusetts  declared  (1681)  that  she  no  longer  withheld 
liberty  of  worship  from  Episcopalians  or  Baptists  (§  96) ;  but  it 
was  easy  to  find  other  grounds  of  complaint,  and  it  was  moved  in 
the  king's  court  in  London  that  the  colonial  charter  be  annulled ; 
no  time  was  given  to  the  colonists  to  plead  their  case,  and  (1684) 
the  charter  fell.  This  was  the  end  of  the  Puritan  commonwealth. 
Henceforth  it  was  to  be  ruled  as  a  province  of  the  crown. 

100.  Sir  Edmund  Andros ;  royal  instructions ;  his  rule ;  his 
overthrow;  results  of  the  English  Revolution  of  1688.  James  II, 
the  successor  (1685)  of  Charles  II,  sent  out  Sir  Edmund  Andros 
to  govern  "  the  Dominion  of  New  England  "  (§  64). 

Andros,  with  his  self-appointed  council,  was  authorized  :  (r)  to 
enact  laws  "  as  near  as  conveniently  may  be  to  those  of  Eng 
land  ";  (2)  to  organize  courts  of  justice;  (3)  to  levy  taxes; 
(4)  to  call  out  the  militia;  (5)  to  grant  liberty  of  conscience  to 
all  persons  and  to  encourage  the  Episcopal  form  of  worship. 

He  faithfully  carried  out  his  instructions.  He  opened  the  Old 
South  Meeting-house  in  Boston  on  Sunday  afternoons  for  the 

1  See  Hazard's  State  Papers,  II,  605-607. 


90  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1684-1689 

Church  of  England  service.  He  imprisoned  the  Reverend  John 
Wise  of  Ipswich,  and  five  other  leading  citizens  of  that  town,  for 
refusing  to  pay  a  tax  levied  upon  them  without  their  consent. 

By  the  fall  (1684)  of  the  colonial  charter  (§  99)  every  acre  of 
land  in  Massachusetts  was  forfeited  to  the  king.  Andros  gave  the 
prominent  real-estate  owners  of  the  colony  their  choice  between 
paying  an  annual  ground  rent  to  his  royal  master  or  surrendering 
their  houses  and  fields.  In  Cambridge,  Lynn,  and  other  towns  he 
seized  the  commons,  fenced  them  in,  and  leased  them  to  private 
tenants. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  public  discussion  of  political  matters, 
he  prohibited  all  town  meetings  except  one  which  might  be  held 
yearly  to  choose  town  officers.  He  forbade  any  person's  leaving 
New  England  without  a  pass.  The  press  had  always  been  under 
the  supervision  of  a  keeper  appointed  by  the  General  Court.  The 
governor  now  appointed  that  keeper  himself;  nothing  could  be 
printed  without  a  license.  Andros  was  naturally  arbitrary,  but 
there  seems  to  be  no  evidence  that  he  was  either  "  cruel,  rapa 
cious,  or  dishonest."  It  was  simply  inevitable  that  he  should 
excite  the  hatred  of  those  who  were  compelled  to  submit  to  him 
and  to  his  royal  master. 

When  the  news  of  the  landing  of  William,  Prince  of  Orange, 
was  received  (1689)  in  Boston,  Andros  wrote,  "There  is  a  gen 
eral  buzzing  among  the  people,  great  with  the  expectation  of 
[regaining]  the  old  charter."  The  "  buzzing  "  had  a  sting  in  it. 
It  ended  in  the  rising  of  the  citizens.  They  threw  the  obnoxious 
ruler  into  prison  and  set  up  a  temporary  government  of  their 
own.  Great  was  the  joy  of  the  colonists  when  William  and  Mary 
came  to  the  throne  in  England.  The  new  king  was  known  to  be 
in  strong  sympathy  with  the  principles  of  the  Puritan  faith,  and 
the  citizens  of  Massachusetts  believed  that  in  him  they  would 
have  a  fast  friend. 

The  "  glorious  revolution  of  1688  "  which  dethroned  James  II 
and  gave  the  crown  to  William  and  Mary  had  far-reaching  results 
in  America:  (i)  it  destroyed  the  scheme  of  consolidation  of  the 


1691-1692]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS         91 

northern  colonies  begun  by  James  (§  64)  and  so  secured  to  them 
a  greater  degree  of  independent  action ;  (2)  it  restored  the  old 
charters  to  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  (§§117,  125)  and  gave 
Massachusetts  her  charter  rights  again  (§  99),  though  in  some 
what  smaller  measure  than  before ;  (3)  it  banished  all  fear  of  the 
establishment  of  Catholicism  in  ariy"o!  the  colonies,  or  of  Episco 
pacy  in  the  Puritan  colonies  ;  (4)  it  brought  on  the  great  war  with 
France  which  ended  by  securing  all  French  territory  in  America 
to  England  (§§  162-172). 

10 1.  The  province  charter  of  Massachusetts  (1691)  ;  Salem 
witchcraft;  Judge  Sewall.  King  William  (1691)  granted  a  new 
charter l  to  Massachusetts  which  annexed  Plymouth  and  Maine  to 
the  colony.  It  provided  :  (i)  that  the  crown  should  appoint  the 
governor  of  the  colony ;  (2)  that  the  property  holders  among  the 
people  should  elect  an  Assembly;  (3)  that  the  Assembly  should 
choose  a  council  or  upper  house,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
governor ;  (4)  the  two  houses  of  the  Legislature  were  to  make  all 
laws,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  governor  and  of  the  king;- 
(5)  the  Assembly  was  to  levy  all  taxes  ;  (6)  the  Legislature  estab 
lished  the  courts  of  justice,  and  the  governor,  with  the  consent 
of  his  council,  appointed  the  judges ;  (7)  freedom  of  worship  was 
granted  to  all  Christians  except  Catholics.  The  colony  remained 
under  this  charter  until  the  war  for  independence. 

The  king  now  appointed  Sir  William  Phips  governor.  He 
arrived  (1692)  in  the  midst  of  the  witchcraft  excitement. 

Belief  in  the  reality  of  witchcraft  was  then  practically  universal. 
In  Great  Britain  alone  thousands  of  poor  old  women  were  tor 
tured,  hanged,  and  burned  for  that  crime.  The  most  eminent 
men  "  thought  that  they  had  Scripture  authority  for  that  belief, 
and  knew  that  they  had  law  for  it." 

Some  children  in  Salem  formed  a  sort  of  club  for  reading  stories 
about  witches.  They  next  began  to  mimic  the  actions  of  be 
witched  persons.  At  length  they  worked  themselves  into  a  state 
of  nervous  excitement  bordering  on  insanity.  In  that  condition 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  42. 


92  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1692-1696 

they  accused  several  women  of  having  bewitched  them.  One  of 
the  accused  was  a  poor  Indian  servant ;  she  was  flogged  so  cruelly 
that  in  her  agony  she  confessed  herself  guilty.  Then  the  whole 
community  was  seized  with  a  frenzy  of  terror;  before  the  fatal 
delusion  ran  its  course  nineteen  persons  were  hanged  for  having 
sold  themselves  to  Satan. 

But  the  inevitable  reaction  came.  A  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
was  held  (1696)  throughout  Massachusetts  to  bewail  the  "mis 
takes  "  of  the  witchcraft  trials.  Judge  Samuel  Sewall  rose  in  his 
place  in  the  Old  South  Meeting-house  and  read  a  written  confes 
sion  of  his  error  in  having  taken  part  in  them.  He  ended  by 
humbly  begging  the  congregation  to  pray  "  that  God  might  not 
visit  his  sin  upon  him,  his  family,"  or  "  upon  the  land." 

Later,  one  of  the  girls  who  had  begun  the  terrible  work  signed 
a  written  statement,  still  on  record,  in  which  she  acknowledged 
the  deceit  she  had  employed,  and  which  had  cost  near  a  score 
of  lives.  But  though  no  more  witchcraft  cases  came  before  the 
.courts  in  Massachusetts,  they  continued  to  be  prosecuted  in  the 
"old  country."  In  fact,  the  English  statute  punishing  such 
offenses  with  death  was  not  repealed  until  forty  years  later  (1736). 

102.  The  power  of  the  purse;  disputes  with  the  governors; 
Episcopacy  ;  the  Forest  Laws  ;  the  Navigation  Laws  revived.  The 
new  charter  (§  101)  gave  the  Assembly  the  exclusive  control  of  the 
public  purse.  The  representatives  chosen  by  the  different  towns 
levied  all  taxes  and  paid  all  salaries.  This  provision  put  "  the 
effective  whip  of  the  money  power  "  into  the  hands  of  the  colonists 
and  made  them  almost  independent  of  the  governor  and  the  king. 

One  great  object  of  the  governor  was  to  secure  a  fixed  perma 
nent  salary,  so  that  the  people  could  not  put  a  bridle  on  his  author 
ity.  The  people,  on  the  other  hand,  were  fully  resolved  not  to 
grant  a  fixed  salary ;  and  not  to  grant  any  for  more  than  a  single 
year  at  a  time.  In  this  way  they  made  the  governor  realize  that 
his  pay  depended  on  his  behavior.  This  battle  between  the  execu 
tive  and  the  people  was  constantly  going  on,  not  only  in  Massa 
chusetts,  but  in  every  one  of  the  royal  colonies  in  America. 


1691-1763]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         93 

Another  lively  source  of  irritation  sprang  from  the  fact  that 
the  governor,  as  the  king's  representative,  always  attended  the 
king's  or  Episcopal  Chapel  in  Boston.  This  excited  the  distrust  of 
many  of  the  descendants  of  the  original  Puritans.  They  feared 
that  the  king  intended  to  appoint  a  bishop  for  Massachusetts  and 
to  secure  to  the  Episcopal  Church  the  controlling  influence  in 
religion.  No  bishop,  however,  was  ever  appointed  by  the  crown 
for  any  American  colony. 

The  Forest  Laws  were  a  third  cause  of  discontent.  The  tall 
straight  pines  of  New  England  were  reserved  for  masts  for  the 
royal  navy.  The  new  charter  forbade  the  colonists  to  cut  them 
down.  But  as  a  fine  tree  would  readily  sell  for  ^100,  or  even 
more,  the  king's  surveyor  found  it  difficult  to  save  the  pines.  His 
attempts  to  do  so  sometimes  led  to  pitched  battles  between  his 
men  and  the  colonists,  in  which  the  latter  generally  came  off 
victors. 

Later,  the  royal  authorities  made  determined  efforts  to  enforce 
the  obnoxious  Navigation  Acts  (§  48),  which  had  long  been  a 
dead  letter  in  New  England.  This  added  fresh  fuel  to  the 
smoldering  embers  of  discontent.  Samuel  Adams  and  other 
patriots  blew  those  embers  until  they  suddenly  burst  out  in  the 
fierce  flame  of  the  Revolution. 

103.  Summary.  Plymouth  Colony  (1620)  and  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  (1630)  were  established  by  men  seeking  liberty  of 
worship  for  themselves,  but  for  themselves  only.  The  settlers 
of  the  first  or  "Old  Colony"  were  Separatists  or  Pilgrims;  those 
of  Massachusetts  Bay  were  Puritans.  The  Pilgrims  organized 
government  by  town  meeting,  where  all  met  on  terms  of  political 
equality.  Later,  they  established  the  representative  system  (except 
for  local  affairs)  and  restricted  the  right  to  vote  to  persons  of 
orthodox  faith.  After  an  independent  existence  of  seventy  years 
Plymouth  Colony  was  united  with  Massachusetts. 

The  Puritan  settlers  of  Massachusetts  practically  set  up  an 
independent  religious  republic,  based  on  church  membership, 
and  they  endeavored  to  exclude  all  who  did  not  accept  their 


94 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1623-1638 


faith ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  the  first  English  colonists  to 
establish  a  college  for  higher  education,  and  a  system  of  public 
schools  which  laid  the  foundation  of  free  instruction  in  the  United 
States.  In  1684  the  colony  was  made  a  royal  province.  Later 
(1691),  a  new  charter  was  received  which  remained  in  force  until 
the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution. 


V.  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  (1623) l 

104.  Grant  of  territory ;  first  settlements.  Two  years  after 
the  Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges 
and  Captain  John  Mason  of  England  obtained  a  grant  (1622)  of 
the  country  between  the  Merrimac  and  the  Kennebec  rivers.2 
Their  territory  extended  "  to  the  farthest  head  of  the  said  rivers  " 
and  sixty  miles  inland.  The  new  prov 
ince  was  to  receive  the  name  of  Maine. 
A  few  months  later,  David  Thomson, 
a  Scotchman,  got  possession  of  a  small 
section  of  land  on  the  Piscataqua  and 
established  a  fishing  station  (1623)  near 
the  mouth  of  that  river.  He  soon  moved 
to  the  vicinity  of  Boston ;  but  the  settle 
ment  he  had  formed  on  the  Piscataqua 
seems  to  have  been  maintained. 

Several  years  later  (1627),  Edward 
Hilton  came  over  from  England  and  set 
up  a  second  fishing  station  at  what  is  now 
Dover.  Not  long  afterward  (1629),  Gorges  and  Mason  built  a 
fort  for  carrying  on  the  fur  trade.  The  three  founded  Ports 
mouth  on  one  of  the  noblest  harbors  of  the  New  England  coast. 
When  (1638)  the  Reverend  John  Wheelwright  was  banished  from 
Massachusetts  for  heresy  (§  92)  he  began  the  settlement  of  Exeter. 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  ix;  V,  ch.  ii;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  vi-vii ; 
Sanborn's  New  Hampshire ;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era ;   Macdonald's  Select  Cha.rte.rs, 
etc. ;  Bancroft's  United  States ;  Palfrey's  New  England. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  '/- 


and. 

aqua  R. 
Portsmouth 
Merrimac  R, 


1629-1G40]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         95 

105.  Gorges  and  Mason  divide  their  territory  into  Maine  and 
New  Hampshire.  Gorges  and  Mason  (1629-1634)  divided  their 
territory.  Gorges  took  the  part  east  of  the  Piscataqua,  or  Maine, 
while  Mason  took  that  between  the  Piscataqua  and  the  Merrimac.1 
This  region  he  called  New  Hampshire, — from  the  county  of  Hamp 
shire,  England,  where  he  had  once  held  an  important  office. 

An  attempt  had  been  made  by  Sir  George  Popham  to  establish 
a  colony  of  that  name  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  in  1607, 
but  it  was  unsuccessful.  Maine  was  planted  by  small  settle 
ments,  and  hence  presented  only  "  scattered  beginnings."  The 
first  permanent  one  was  made  (1625)  on  the  rocky  promontory 
of  Pemaquid,  east  of  Bath.  It  promised  so  well  that  it  received 
the  name  of  "  the  metropolis  of  New  England." 

Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was  a  stanch  Royalist  and  a  zealous 
member  of  the  Church  of  England.  He  fixed  his  capital  (1640) 
under  the  shadow  of  Mount  Agamenticus,  at  what  is  now  York. 
Massachusetts,  under  a  new  interpretation  of  her  charter,  claimed 
part  of  Maine.  By  a  later  charter  (1691)  she  got  the  whole  of  it, 
and  held  it  under  the  name  of  the  "District  of  Maine."  In  1820 
this  "  District "  became  an  independent  state  of  that  union 
which  the  hardy  and  patriotic  sons  of  Maine  had  done  their 
full  part  to  establish. 

io6.  Religious  opinions ;  land  titles.  New  Hampshire  was  greatly 
divided  in  religious  opinions.  A  considerable  part  of  the  first  set 
tlers  were  "  loyal  to  the  Church  of  England  and  to  the  king."  But 
besides  these  there  were  Puritans  and  Hutchinsonians  (§  92)  at 
Dover.  Again,  the  Wheelwright  party  (§  92),  who  settled  Exeter, 
felt  no  very  fervent  love  toward  the  old  Bay  Colony,  which  had 
driven  them  out  to  find  homes  in  the  northern  wilderness. 

Besides  religious  differences  there  were  serious  disputes  about 
land  titles,  and  between  the  two  New  Hampshire  found  herself 
in  a  very  unsettled  condition.  When  Mason  died  his  heirs  insisted 
that  the  settlers  on  the  grant  were  intruders  who  must  either  pay 
for  their  farms  or  leave  them. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  Nos.  10  and  13. 


96  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1630-1675 

While  this  dispute  was  going  on,  Massachusetts  (1630)  laid 
claim  to  a  large  part  of  New  Hampshire.  Her  ground  was  that 
the  Massachusetts  Company's  charter  gave  them  the  right  to  all 
lands  as  far  north  as  three  miles  above  the  source  of  the  Mer- 
rimac  River  (§  85  ),  and  thence  easterly  in  a  straight  line  to  the 
Atlantic. 

After  many  years  of  litigation  the  English  courts  finally  (1680) 
decided  against  this  claim;  but  the  Mason  heirs  kept  up  the 
controversy  for  about  half  a  century  longer.  The  early  settlers 
had  a  trying  experience.  When  they  were  not  fighting  Indians 
in  the  forests  they  were  fighting  in  the  courts  against  English 
claimants  to  their  homes ;  of  the  two,  they  probably  dreaded  the 
claimants  rather  more  than  they  did  the  savages. 

107.  "Combinations";  union  with  Massachusetts  (1642- 
1675)  ;  New  Hampshire  becomes  a  royal  province.  After  Mason's 
death  the  citizens  of  Dover  signed  a  compact  by  which  they 
bound  themselves  to  obey  the  laws  of  England,  but  maintained 
the  right  of  the  settlers  to  supplement  those  laws  with  regulations 
of  their  own.  Similar  "  combinations  "  were  formed  (either  earlier 
or  later)  by  the  people  of  Portsmouth  and  of  Exeter.  In  prac 
tice  these  agreements  established  independent  systems  of  self- 
government. 

But  New  Hampshire  had  too  small  a  population  to  hold  her 
own  against  the  terrors  of  Indian  attacks,  of  boundary  disputes, 
and  of  private  claimants  to  her  lands.  A  commissioner  sent 
from  Massachusetts  reported  that  the  Piscataqua  people  were 
ripe  for  union  with  the  Bay  Colony.  The  union  took  place  in 
1641.  The  northern  colony  lost  none  of  its  rights  or  privileges 
by  the  annexation.  The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  pru 
dently  ordered  (1642)  that  the  freemen  of  New  Hampshire 
should  "  have  liberty  ...  to  manage  all  their  town  affairs,"  and 
that  permission  should  be  given  to  each  town  to  "  send  a  deputy 
to  the  General  Court  though  [such  deputies]  be  not  at  present 
church  members."  l 

1  See  Massachusetts  Records,  II,  29. 


1719-]         ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  97 

This  union  lasted  for  more  than  thirty  years  (1642-1675), 
when  the  king  ordered  that  New  Hampshire  should  be  restored 
to  one  of  Mason's  heirs.  A  few  years  later  (1680),  it  became  a 
royal  province.  Governor  Cranfield's  rapacity  made  the  people 
desperate,  and  the  farmers  rose.  Armed  with  clubs  and  aided 
by  their  good  wives  armed  with  kettles  of  boiling  water,  they 
drove  back  the  governor's  bands  of  tax  collectors  and  constables. 

108.  Settlement  of  Londonderry  (1719);  manufacture  of  linen; 
Stark;  Webster;  Dartmouth  College.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury  (1719)  a  number  of  Scotch-Irish  (§  52)  immigrants  settled 
in  New  Hampshire.  They  founded  a  frontier  town,  which  they 
called  Londonderry  in  grateful  remembrance  of  the  famous  Prot 
estant  city  which  had  been  their  temporary  home  in  Ireland. 

These  thrifty  settlers  soon  began  a  most  important  industry 
which  they  had  learned  in  Ireland ;  this  was  the  raising  of  flax 
and  the  manufacture  of  linen.  In  every  log  cabin  the  music  of 
the  spinning  wheel  was  heard,  and  the  cloth  sent  out  from  those 
humble  homes  in  the  wilderness  became  so  famous  all  over  New 
England  that  British  makers  counterfeited  the  Londonderry  stamp. 

Another  product  of  which  the  town  had  good  reason  to  be 
proud  was  John  Stark,  who  came  to  the  front  in  the  French  and 
Indian  wars  and  in  the  early  battles  of  the  Revolution. 

About  forty  years  after  the  settlement  of  Londonderry  a 
farmer  of  Scottish  descent  pushed  far  north  into  what  was  then 
the  wildest  part  of  New  Hampshire.  There  he  made  himself  a 
dwelling  place  under  the  shadow  of  Mount  Kearsarge.  Speaking 
of  that  home  in  the  woods,  Daniel  Webster  said  :  "  My  father 
lapped  on  a  little  beyond  any  other  comer;  and  when  he  had 
built  his  log  cabin,  and  lighted  his  fire,  his  smoke  ascended  nearer 
to  the  north  star  than  that  of  any  other  of  His  Majesty's  New 
England  subjects;  his  nearest  civilized  neighbor  on  the  north 
was  at  Montreal." 

Something  like  ten  years  after  that  cabin  was  erected  a  band 
of  about  thirty  students,  mostly  Indians,  made  their  way  on  foot 
through  the  woods  from  Connecticut  to  what  is  now  Hanover. 


98  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1703- 

There  they  felled  trees  in  the  forest  and  erected  (1769)  the  first 
rude  buildings  of  Dartmouth  College. 

109.  Dispute  between  New  York  and  New  Hampshire ;  the  "  beech 
seal" ;  Vermont;  Paul  Jones.  In  1 763  a  dispute  arose  between  New 
Hampshire  and  New  York  in  regard  to  the  ownership  of  the  terri 
tory  lying  between  the  latter  colony  and  the  Connecticut  River. 

Both  claimed  it  under  the  royal  grants.  The  colony  of 
Massachusetts  had  built  Fort  Dummer  (1724)  near  what  is  now 
Brattleboro.  This  was  the  first  settlement  made  in  that  region. 
Governor  Benning  Wentworth  of  New  Hampshire  (from  whom 
Bennington  was  named)  had  already  laid  out  nearly  a  hundred 
and  forty  townships  in  this  disputed  territory.  These  townships 
—  popularly  called  the  "  New  Hampshire  Grants" — were  a 
favorite  field  for  speculators,  and  lawyers  grew  rich  from  land 
sales  and  the  quarrels  arising  from  them. 

The  king  (1765)  confirmed  the  claim  of  New  York  to  the 
territory  west  of  the  Connecticut  River.  Thereupon  the  gov 
ernor  of  New  York  ordered  the  settlers  on  the  "  New  Hampshire 
Grants  "  —  later  named  Vermont  —  to  repurchase  their  lands. 

Ethan  Allen  and  Seth  Warner,  two  "  Green  Mountain  boys," 
headed  a  party  determined  to  resist  these  demands.  They  armed 
themselves  with  tough  blue-beech  rods,  such  as  were  used  for 
taming  unruly  oxen.  When  the  sheriff's  officers  came  from  New 
York  to  eject  the  settlers,  the  "boys"  gave  them  a  very  warm 
reception.  This  they  styled  "  applying  the  beech  seal."  A  long 
and  bloody  contest  would  probably  have  ensued  had  not  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  compelled  the  disputants  to  turn 
their  energies  to  fighting  a  common  enemy. 

In  the  war  for  independence  the  "  Green  Mountain  boys,"  led 
by  Allen,  Warner,  and  other  patriots  of  that  section,  did  the  cause 
of  American  liberty  memorable  service.  In  1777  the  freemen  of 
the  "  New  Hampshire  Grants  "  declared  themselves  an  independ 
ent  state  under  the  appropriate  name  of  Vermont.  Vermont 
(1791)  headed  the  band  of  states  which,  outside  of  the  original 
thirteen,  first  entered  the  American  Union. 


1634-]         ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS  99 

Early  in  the  Revolution,  citizens  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp 
shire,  built  (1777)  the  famous  privateer  Ranger  which  sailed 
under  the  command  of  Paul  Jones.  The  danger  was  the  first  ves 
sel  to  hoist  the  stars  and  stripes,  and  the  first  to  force  a  British 
man  of  war  to  strike  her  colors  to  our  national  flag. 

no.  Summary.  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  a  few  fishing 
and  fur-trading  settlements  were  planted  on  the  New  England 
coast  north  of  the  Merrimac.  Soon  afterward  the  proprietors 
of  the  territory  divided  it ;  the  eastern  part  became  Maine  and 
the  western  New  Hampshire.  Eventually  New  Hampshire  was 
annexed  to  Massachusetts,  but  it  retained  important  features  of 
its  own  more  liberal  form  of  government ;  late  in  the  seventeenth 
century  it  became  a  royal  province. 

Scotch-Irish  immigrants  set  up  the  manufacture  of  linen  at 
Londonderry.  Stark  and  Webster  were  the  sons  of  New  Hamp 
shire  pioneers.  After  a  time  the  settlers  in  the  western  part  of 
the  colony  declared  themselves  an  independent  state  under  the 
name  of  Vermont.  Both  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  took 
active  part  in  the  war  for  independence. 

VI.  CONNECTICUT  (1634) 1 

in.  Connecticut  Valley;  the  Dutch;  emigration  from  Plymouth 
Colony  and  from  Massachusetts.  Between  Plymouth  Colony  on 
the  east  and  New  Netherland  on  the  west  lay  the  beautiful  val 
ley  of  the  Connecticut.  James  I  had  granted  this  region  to  the 
Council  for  New  England  ;  but  no  proper  surveys  had  been  made, 
and  "  the  king  might  as  well  have  given  a  bearskin  while  the  bear 
himself  was  still  at  large  in  the  forest." 

The  Dutch  claimed  the  country  by  virtue  of  exploration  and 
settlement.  They  had  sent  vessels  up  the  Connecticut  (1633) 
and  had  built  a  fortified  fur-trading  house  where  the  city  of 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  ix;  V,  ch.  ii ;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  vi-vii ; 
Fisher's  Colonial  Era;  Bancroft's  United  States;  Trtimbull's  Connecticut;  John 
ston's  Connecticut ;  Fiske's  Beginnings  of  New  England ;  Palfrey's  New  England. 


100        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1634-1644 


Hartford  now  stands.  But  the  Puritan  and  Pilgrim  colonists  on 
the  east  refused  to  recognize  the  Dutch  claim.  They  looked 
upon  the  coveted  territory  as  a  "  No  Man's  Land  "  or  "  Lord's 
Waste,"  which  any  Englishman  had  the  right  to  seize. 

Acting  in  this  spirit,  Captain  William  Holmes  of  Plymouth 
sailed  boldly  up  the  Connecticut,  pushed  past  the  Dutch  fort 
(1633),  and  set  up  a  ready-made  rival  trading  house  where 
Windsor  now  stands. 

The  next  year  (1634)  emigrants  from  Watertown,  near  Boston, 
built  a  few  log  huts  at  Wethersfield,  —  the  oldest  town  in  Con 
necticut.  Soon  afterward  (1635)  about  half  the  inhabitants  of 
Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  moved  to  the  vicinity  of  Captain 
Holmes'  trading  house.  They,  too,  had  a  "  hankering  mind  " 
after  the  rich  river  meadows  of  Windsor. 

But  the  chief  emigration  took  place  the  following  year  (1636), 
when  the  Reverend  Thomas  Hooker,  "  the  Light  of  the  Western 

Churches,"  led  the 
greater  part  of  his 
Cambridge  congre 
gation  to  the  Con 
necticut.  The  col 
onists  found  their 
way  through  the 
primeval  forests  by 
the  use  of  the  com 
pass.  After  two 
weeks'  journeying  they  reached  the  Connecticut,  crossed  it  on 
rafts,  and  began  the  settlement  of  Hartford. 

The  same  autumn  (1636)  John  Winthrop,  junior,  built  a  fort 
for  Lords  Say  and  Brooke  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  — 
hence  the  town  of  Saybrook.  This  fort  shut  out  the  Dutch  from 
coming  up  the  river.  Eight  years  later  (1644),  the  Connecticut 
colony  (consisting  of  Wethersfield,  Windsor,  and  Hartford)  pur 
chased  Saybrook,  and  so  got  the  control  of  the  river  from  its 
mouth  to  the  Massachusetts  line  on  the  north. 


1636-1637]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS        IOI 

112.   Opposition   of    Massachusetts;    reasons    for   emigration. 

Massachusetts  strongly  opposed  this  movement  of  her  people 
into  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut.  She  regarded  it  as  a  seces 
sion  rather  than  an  emigration.  It  was  in  fact  the  secession  of 
the  more  democratic  part  of  the  Puritan  population  of  Massachu 
setts.  But  the  authorities  had  other  reasons  for  opposing  this 
movement :  (i)  they  did  not  like  to  see  their  own  slender  num 
bers  reduced ;  (2)  they  feared  that  England  would  hold  them 
responsible  for  letting  the  people  take  possession  of  a  region  for 
which  they  had  no  patent ;  (3)  they  thought  the  movement  would 
bring  on  a  war  with  the  Dutch  and  with  the  Indians.1  In  regard 
to  trouble  with  the  savages,  the  results  showed  that  their  judg 
ment  was  correct. 

The  Cambridge  emigrants  gave  as  their  reasons  for  going. 
( i )  that  they  needed  more  room  for  pasturing  their  cattle  ;  (2)  that 
if  they  did  not  seize  the  Connecticut  Valley  there  was  great  danger 
that  the  "  Dutch,  or  other  English  "  might  do  so ;  (3)  that  it  was 
"  the  strong  bent  of  their  spirits  to  remove  thither." 

The  phrase  "  strong  bent "  was  doubtless  a  mild  way  of  ex 
pressing  the  determination  of  the  leaders  of  the  movement  to 
establish  a  new  government  which  should  more  fully  represent 
their  own  ideas.  Hooker  was  opposed  to  having  suffrage  restricted 
to  church  members  (§  88).  He  advocated  broader  and  more  tol 
erant  principles  in  both  religion  and  politics  than  those  held  by 
the  authorities  in  Massachusetts. 

After  a  long  debate  a  reluctant  kind  of  half  assent  was  given 
to  the  emigration,  but  on  the  condition  that  Massachusetts 
should  appoint  commissioners  to  control  the  Connecticut  set 
tlers.  To  this  the  emigrants  agreed,  but  in  less  than  a  year  they 
had  become  self-governing. 

113.  War  with  the  Pequots ;  the  destruction  of  the  Pequot 
fort ;  results.  The  settlers  at  Wethersfield,  Windsor,  and  Hart 
ford  had  hardly  got  their  log  cabins  completed  when  they  were 
obliged  to  unite  in  a  campaign  (1637)  against  the  savages.  It 

1  See  Winthrop's  New  England,  I,  166-169,  or  Walker's  Life  of  Hooker,  84. 


102         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1637-1633 

was  the  first  war  with  the  Indians  in  New  England.  The  fero 
cious  Pequots  —  a  tribe  that  could  muster  nearly  a  thousand 
warriors — were  determined  to  drive  the  English  from  the  rich 
valley  of  the  Connecticut. 

Captain  John  Mason  of  Windsor  led  (1637)  his  valiant  little 
army  of  ninety  men  against  the  savages.  Captain  Underhill  of 
Massachusetts  joined  him  with  a  force  of  about  twenty  more. 
Several  hundred  friendly  Narragansetts  and  Mohicans  went  with 
the  expedition. 

Mason  and  Underhill,  with  this  small  force,  burst  into  the  Pequot 
fort  (on  Pequot  Hill,  near  what  is  now  Mystic).  They  set  the  wig 
wams  on  fire,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  whole  Indian  village  was  a 
sheet  of  roaring  flame.  When  the  terrified  savages  rushed  madly 
out  of  their  blazing  wigwams,  Mason  and  Underhill  "  entertained 
them,"  as  the  latter  says,  "  with  the  point  of  the  sword."  Out  of 
six  or  seven  hundred  Pequots  only  "  about  seven  escaped." 

The  remainder  of  the  tribe,  who  were  intrenched  in  a  second 
fort  a  few  miles  distant,  fled  westward  in  despair.  All  summer 
they  were  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts.  In  the  autumn  (1637) 
the  miserable  remnant  of  this  once  powerful  people  surrendered. 
The  colonists  gave  part  of  the  prisoners  to  the  Mohicans  and 
Narragansetts;  the  rest  they  sold  as  slaves  to  the  West  India 
planters.  The  destruction  of  the  Pequots  secured  forty  years  of 
peace  to  the  New  England  settlers,  and  opened  the  way  to  the 
rapid  settlement  of  Connecticut. 

114.  Mr.  Hooker's  sermon  ;  the  Connecticut  Constitution;  laws 
respecting  suffrage.  In  the  spring  following  the  victory  over  the 
Pequots,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Hooker  preached  a  memorable  ser 
mon  (1638)  before  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut.  He 
declared  that  the  foundation  of  every  just  government  must  be 
laid  "  in  the  free  consent  of  the  people,"  who  alone  had  the  right 
not  only  to  choose  but  to  limit  the  power  of  their  rulers. 

The  next  January  (1639)  the  Court  framed  a  "Body  of  Fun 
damental  Laws " l  based  on  the  republican  principles  which 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  14. 


1638-1667]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       103 

Hooker  had  laid  down.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  first  writ 
ten,  and  purely  republican,  constitution  made  by  Americans  for 
Americans  (§§  43,  80).  It  did  not  mention  either  king  or  par 
liament,  but  derived  its  powers  solely  from  the  "free  consent" 
of  the  governed. 

This  constitution  required  that  the  governor  of  Connecticut 
should  be  "always  a  member  of  some  approved  congregation." 
That  meant  that  he  must  be  orthodox  in  religion.  But  the 
Connecticut  authorities,  unlike  those  in  Massachusetts,  did  not 
restrict  the  right  to  vote  to  church  members. 

A  number  of  years  later  an  act  was  passed  (1657)  forbidding 
Quakers  and  other  "loathsome  heretics"  from  settling  in  the 
colony.  About  the  same  time  the  right  of  suffrage  was  limited 
to  persons  who  had  once  held  office  or  who  owned  property  to 
the  value  of  ^30. 

The  laws  were  liberal  for  that  day.  Roger  Williams  was  "  a 
welcome  guest  at  Hartford,"  and  there  "never  existed  a  perse 
cuting  spirit  in  Connecticut." 

115.  New  Haven  Colony  (1638)  a  republic  founded  on  the 
Bible;  the  Laws  of  Moses.  Meanwhile  a  new  colony  had  been 
planted  (1638)  at  New  Haven.  In  many  respects  it  differed 
widely  from  the  Connecticut  Colony.  Its  founders  were  The- 
ophilus  Eaton,  a  London  merchant,  and  the  Reverend  John 
Davenport,  a  Puritan  minister  of  the  "  straitest  sect." 

In  1639  the  settlers  held  their  first  town  meeting.  They  voted  : 
(i)  "that  the  Scriptures  do  hold  forth  a  perfect  rule  for  the 
direction  and  government  of  all  men " ;  (2)  "  that  church 
members  only  shall  be  free  burgesses."  These  ordinances  were 
declared  to  be  unalterable.  In  1643  several  independent  settle 
ments  united  with  New  Haven  in  forming  a  representative  govern 
ment  on  this  basis.1 

The  settlers  then  chose  twelve  men,  who  in  turn  chose,  from 
among  themselves,  the  "  Seven  Pillars."  These  seven,  by  mutual 
agreement,  formed  the  first  church  of  New  Haven  Colony,  and 

i  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  14. 


104        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1642-1644 

also  the  first  court  of  justice.  They  appointed  the  civil  officers  of 
the  commonwealth  and  decided  who  might  be  permitted  to  vote. 

A  few  years  later  (1644),  the  General  Court  ordered  that  "  the 
judicial  Laws  of  Moses,"  as  laid  down  in  the  Old  Testament, 
should  be  the  rule  for  dealing  with  all  offenders.  These  laws, 
which  resembled  those  of  Massachusetts,  inflicted  the  penalty 
of  death  not  only  on  the  murderer  but  on  the  presumptuous 
Sabbath  breaker,  the  willful  blasphemer,  and  the  stubborn  and 
rebellious  son.1  All  trials  were  conducted  before  the  seven 
judges  ;  trial  by  jury  was  not  allowed.  There  is  no  evidence,  how 
ever,  that  capital  punishment  was  ever  inflicted  except  for  willful 
murder  and  for  the  commission  of  one  or  two  revolting  crimes.2 
In  England  at  this  date  no  less  than  two  hundred  offenses,  of  which 
sheep  stealing  was  one,  were  punished  by  the  hangman's  halter. 

116.  Establishment  of  a  free  school  (1642)  and  of  a  college 
(1701);  the  regicides.  In  1642  the  colony  of  New  Haven  ordered 
a  free  school  to  be  "  set  up"  (§  93),  and  to  be  supported  out  of 
the  public  money  of  the  town. 

Two  generations  later,  after  New  Haven  and  Connecticut  had 
long  been  united,  tradition  tells  us  that  ten  ministers,  zealous  for 
the  cause  of  sound  knowledge  and  sound  orthodoxy,  met  at  Bran- 
ford,  near  New  Haven  (1701).  Each  brought  a  few  books,  say 
ing,  "  I  give  these  books  for  the  founding  of  a  college  in  this 
colony."  Such  was  the  humble  beginning  of  what  is  to-day  Yale 
University.  It  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth  of  the  great  New 
England  institutions  of  learning. 

When  Charles  II  came  to  the  throne  Whalley  and  Goffe,  two 
of  the  judges  who  had  signed  Charles  I's  death  warrant,  fled  to 
Boston.  Thence  the  regicide  judges  went  to  New  Haven. 

The  Puritan  colonists  of  New  England  naturally  sympathized 
with  men  who  had  given  the  deathblow  to  that  royal  tyranny 
which  had  driven  them  to  seek  homes  in  the  New  World.  The 
Reverend  John  Davenport  concealed  the  fugitives  in  his  own 

l  See  New  Haven  Records,  I,  130,  191  ;  Levermore's  New  Haven,  151,  153. 
a  See  Levermore's  New  Haven,  153. 


1660-1687]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       105 

house.  In  a  sermon  full  of  fervor  he  bade  his  congregation  obey 
the  Scripture  command,  "  Hide  the  outcasts ;  betray  not  him  that 
wandereth."  The  emissaries  of  the  crown  offered  large  rewards 
for  the  capture  of  the  regicides,  but  no  one,  however  poor,  would 
give  information  respecting  them.  The  king  never  succeeded  in 
laying  hand  on  these  two  men  who  had  helped  to  send  his  father 
to  the  block. 

117.  The  Connecticut  Charter  (1662)  ;  New  Haven  united  with 
Connecticut ;  Andros  and  the  Charter.  In  1662  Charles  II  granted 
a  charter  1  to  the  Connecticut  Colony,  which  incorporated  (1665) 
the  New  Haven  Colony  with  the  other  settlement.  The  Con 
necticut  charter  was  a  remarkable  instrument.  It  made  the 
people  of  that  commonwealth  "  independent  except  in  name." 
They  could  elect  their  own  governor  and  Legislature,  enact  their 
own  laws  (provided  they  should  not  be  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
England),  and  administer  justice  without  appeal  to  the  English 
courts.  The  charter  imposed  no  restrictions  in  matters  of  religion 
or  worship. 

It  was  as  liberal  in  its  gift  of  territory  as  in  its  political  con 
cessions.  It  secured  to  this  virtual  American  republic  a  strip 
of  land  about  seventy  miles  in  width,  extending  from  a  point  a 
little  west  of  Narragansett  Bay  in  one  unbroken  line  across  the 
continent  to  the  Pacific.  By  these  generous  terms  Connecticut 
embraced,  like  Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  nearly  one  eighth  of 
the  circumference  of  the  globe  (see  map  on  page  35). 

In  1687  Governor  Andros,  in  pursuance  of  his  instructions 
from  James  II  (§§  64,  100),  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  Con 
necticut  charter,  and  went  with  a  military  retinue  to  Hartford  to 
obtain  it.  The  authorities  protested,  but  Andros  was  unyielding. 
He  had  come  for  the  charter  and  he  was  determined  not  to  go 
away  without  it.  The  discussion  extended  into  the  evening. 
Then,  according  to  tradition,  the  much-coveted  document  was 
brought  in  and  laid  on  the  table.  The  governor  was  about  to 
take  possession  of  it  when  the  candles  were  suddenly  blown  out ; 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  24. 


106        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1687-1689 

when  they  were  relighted  the  charter  had  disappeared.  One 
of  the  Assemblymen  had  seized  the  precious  document  under 
cover  of  the  darkness,  and  rushing  out  had  hidden  it  in  the 
hollow  trunk  of  the  tree  henceforth  known  and  venerated  as  the 
"  Charter  Oak." 

Andros  now  took  the  management  of  Connecticut  upon  him 
self.  But  his  triumph  was  brief.  When  (1689)  he  fell  (§  100) 
the  colonists  brought  out  the  hidden  charter  and  reestablished 
their  liberty.  From  that  time  the  government  remained  substan 
tially  unchanged  until  the  adoption  of  the  state  constitution 
in  1818. 

The  growth  of  Connecticut,  like  that  of  her  noble  elms,  was 
silent  and  sure.  As  she  chose  her  own  rulers  and  made  her  own 
laws,  she  was  exempt  from  those  quarrels  with  royal  governors 
which  kept  most  of  the  colonies  in  a  constant  turmoil.  In  the 
French  wars  Israel  Putnam,  one  of  Connecticut's  adopted  sons, 
— "  the  man  who  dared  to  lead  where  any  man  dared  to  follow," 
—  showed  how  her  people  were  being  trained  for  the  coming 
struggle  for  independence.  That  struggle  brought  such  patriots 
as  Putnam,  Roger  Sherman,  and  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull  — 
the  original  "  Brother  Jonathan,"  the  friend  and  adviser  of 
Washington  —  directly  to  the  front. 

118.  Summary.  The  Connecticut  Valley  was  settled  by  emi 
grants  from  Massachusetts  who  desired  to  establish  a  colony  on  a 
broader  basis  of  citizenship.  Connecticut  framed  the  first  written 
and  purely  republican  form  of  constitution  made  by  Americans 
for  Americans.  Later,  a  colony  of  the  strictest  class  of  Puritans 
was  established  at  New  Haven.  They  limited  the  government 
to  church  members.  In  1662  Charles  II  united  the  two  colonies 
under  a  very  liberal  charter.  Henceforth  Connecticut  became  an 
independent  republic  in  everything  but  name.  Israel  Putnam 
led  Connecticut  men  in  the  French  and  Indian  War ;  and  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  Putnam,  Sherman,  and  Trumbull 
took  a  conspicuous  part  in  behalf  of  independence. 


1C29-1636]     ENGLISH   AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       IO/ 

VII.  MARYLAND  (i6$4)1 

119.  George  Calvert,  Baron  of  Baltimore;  the  Maryland  Charter; 
laws;  religion.  In  1629  George  Calvert,  Baron  of  Baltimore, 
visited  Jamestown,  Virginia,  with  the  view  of  settling  in  that 
province.  The  authorities,  knowing  that  he  was  a  Catholic, 
demanded  that  he  should  take  the  Oath  of  Supremacy  (§  40), 
and  thus  compelled  him  to  leave  the  colony. 

Two  years  later  (1631),  Charles  I  granted  Lord  Baltimore  a 
large  tract  of  wild  land  in  Virginia  north  and  east  of  the  Potomac  ; 
but  before  the  charter  was  signed  Lord  Baltimore  died,  and  his 
son,  Cecil  Calvert,  the  second  Lord  Baltimore,  received  the 
charter.2  It  created  Calvert  and  his  heirs  "  Proprietaries "  or 
"true  and  absolute  lords"  of  Maryland,  —  a  name  given  by  the 
king  in  honor  of  his  French  wife,  Queen  "  Mary,"  who  held 
the  same  faith  as  the  Calverts.  By  this  act  Charles  I  granted 
"  the  most  ample  rights  and  privileges  ever  conferred  by  a  sover 
eign  of  England."  He  gave  Lord  Baltimore  power  to  set  up  "a 
government  almost  independent  of  the  parent  country." 

By  the  charter  the  "  Proprietary  "  could  erect  manors,  create 
a  titled  aristocracy,  wage  war,  call  out  the  entire  fighting  popula 
tion  to  defend  his  province,  establish  courts  of  justice,  impose 
customs  duties,  levy  taxes,  and,  with  the  assent  of  the  freemen, 
or  voters,  could  enact  all  needful  laws  —  provided,  however,  that 
they  should  agree  "as  far  as  conveniently  might  be"  with  the 
laws  of  England. 

In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  Lord  Baltimore  ordered  (1636)  that 
land  grants  of  a  thousand  acres  and  upwards  should  be  erected 
into  manors.  The  lord  of  such  an  estate  was  empowered  to  hold 
civil  and  criminal  courts.  His  tenants  usually  enjoyed  a  share  in 
the  management  or  government  of  the  estate.  One  of  the  most 


1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  xiii;  V,  ch.  iv;  and  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  iv; 
Scharfs    Maryland;    Browne's   Maryland;     Fisher's    Colonial   Era;    Macdonald's 
Select  Charters,  etc.;  Hildreth's  United  States. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  12. 


108          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1634- 

famous  of  these  manors,  on  which  the  ancient  mansion,  chapel, 
and  outbuildings  are  still  to  be  seen,  was  the  beautiful  domain  of 
the  Revolutionary  patriot,  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton. 

Nothing  in  the  charter  forbade  the  Proprietary  from  opening 
such  places  of  worship  as  he  saw  fit.  Lord  Baltimore's  intention 
was  to  found  an  aristocratic  province  of  wealthy  landholders,  which 
should  also  be  a  place  of  refuge  for  English  Catholics.  In  doing 
this  he  had  no  intention  of  compelling  all  colonists  to  contribute 
toward  the  support  of  the  Catholic  Church,  or  of  excluding  any 
other  class  of  Christians ;  in  fact,  under  English  law  he  could  not 
have  shut  out  Protestants  had  he  been  so  disposed.  But  he  was 
not  so  disposed ;  on  the  contrary,  he  invited  them  to  take  part  in 
planting  the  first  settlement  in  the  American  wilderness  which 
was  open  to  all  believers  in  Christianity. 

120.  Emigration  to  Maryland;  St.  Mary's  (1634)  first  English 
Catholic  Church;  Puritans;  toleration;  Quakers.  Leonard  Cal- 
vert,  a  brother  of  Lord  Baltimore,  sailed  (1633)  for  Maryland 
with  nearly  two  hundred  colonists.  About 
twenty  of  them  were  Catholic  gentlemen 
who  went  out  to  take  up  lands ;  most  of 
the  remainder  appear  to  have  been  Prot 
estant  laborers. 

A  settlement  was  made  at  St.  Mary's  in 
1634.  Here  an  Indian  wigwam  was  con 
secrated  as  a  place  of  worship.  It  was 
the  first  English  Catholic  church  opened 
in  America.  No  other  colony  would  have  allowed  it  to  stand 
even  for  a  day.  Under  English  law  no  colony  could  have  right 
fully  permitted  it  to  do  so  (§  40).  Nothing  in  Lord  Baltimore's 
charter  granted  him  permission  to  open  such  a  church ;  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  implied  or  understood. 

From  the  outset  Protestants  and  Catholics  enjoyed  equal  and 
entire  freedom.  Puritans  from  New  England  were  invited  to 
settle  in  the  new  colony.  Governor  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts 
wrote  (1643)  tnat  Lord  Baltimore,  "being  himself  a  Papist," 


1648-1672]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS       109 

offered  "  land  in  Maryland  to  any  of  ours  that  would  transport 
themselves  thither,  with  free  liberty  of  religion." 

When  Governor  Berkeley  of  Virginia  drove  out  the  Puritans 
from  the  "Old  Dominion,"  a  number  fled  to  Maryland  (1648- 
1649)  and>  like  Roger  Williams,  founded  a  town  which  they 
named  Providence,  —  now  Annapolis.  In  1649  tne  Maryland 
Assembly,  a  majority  of  whom  were  Catholics,  passed  an  "  Act 
concerning  Religion "  l  which  confirmed  and  fully  established 
Lord  Baltimore's  policy  of  religious  toleration.  That  act  pun 
ished  denial  of  the  Trinity  with  death ;  but  it  declared  that  "  no 
person  .  .  .  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  shall  from  hence 
forth  be  any  ways  troubled  ...  in  respect  of  his  or  her  religion 
...  so  as  they  be  not  unfaithful  to  the  Lord  Proprietary." 

Certain  Quakers  were  banished  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  Lord  Baltimore ;  but  even  they  were  not  very 
rigidly  excluded,  for  George  Fox  later  (1672)  declared  that  he 
held  "a  large  and  heavenly  meeting"  in  Maryland. 

121.  The  Virginians;  Clayborne ;  Captain  Ingle;  the  Puritan 
commissioners ;  Cromwell ;  William  and  Mary.  The  Virginia  colo 
nists,  angry  at  the  dismemberment  of  their  territory  (§  119), 
showed  decided  hostility  to  their  new  neighbors.  William  Clay- 
borne,  a  Virginian,  held  a  trading  station  on  Kent  Island,  under 
a  royal  license  granted  before  Lord  Baltimore  received  his  char 
ter.  He  refused  to  vacate;  fighting  ensued.  Finally  the  case 
was  brought  before  the  English  courts  and  was  decided  in  Lord 
Baltimore's  favor.  When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  in  England 
between  the  Puritans  and  the  Royalists,  Clayborne  made  an 
attempt  to  repossess  himself  of  Kent  Island. 

At  the  same  time  Captain  Richard  Ingle,  an  English  pirati 
cal  adventurer  who  professed  to  be  a  stanch  Puritan,  seized 
St.  Mary's  and  compelled  Governor  Calvert  to  fly  to  Virginia. 
Under  the  plea  that  he  had  come  to  help  "  the  distressed  Prot 
estants"  of  the  colony,  Clayborne  plundered  the  Catholics  and 
the  Royalists,  broke  up  the  Catholic  missions,  and  arresting  Father 
l  Sec  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  21. 


110         THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1654-1689 

White  and  the  other  priests,  sent  them  to  England  in  irons  to 
answer  to  a  false  charge  of  treason. 

When  Governor  Calvert  returned  to  Maryland,  there  was  a  great 
outcry  in  England  against  the  so-called  "  Papist  province."  To  take 
away  all  cause  for  this  clamor,  Lord  Baltimore  removed  the  Cath 
olic  governor,  and  put  a  Protestant  in  his  place.  The  next  Assembly 
passed  the  famous  act  of  toleration  previously  mentioned  (§  120). 

After  Charles  I  was  beheaded,  Parliament  appointed  three 
commissioners,  one  of  whom  was  Clayborne,  to  reorganize  the 
government  of  Maryland.  Three  fourths  of  the  colonists  were 
Puritans.  They  supported  Clayborne  in  his  avowed  determina 
tion  to  "  root  out  the  Papists."  An  Assembly  was  summoned 
from  which  all  Catholics  were  expressly  excluded.  That  body 
enacted  a  law  (1654)  declaring  "that  none  who  profess  and 
exercise  the  Popish  religion  .  .  .  can  be  protected  in  this  prov 
ince  by  the  laws  of  England."  The  extreme  Puritans  in  England 
said  that  at  last  "  Babylon  in  Maryland  "  had  fallen.  The  same 
law  that  refused  liberty  of  worship  to  Catholics  denied  it  to 
Episcopalians,  Quakers,  and  Baptists. 

Cromwell,  Puritan  though  he  was,  sternly  rebuked  this  action. 
He  declared  that  "  liberty  of  conscience  is  a  natural  right." 
Furthermore,  he  gave  orders  that  Lord  Baltimore's  authority 
should  be  respected  and  that  freedom  of  worship  should  be 
restored  to  all  Christians. 

When  William  and  Mary  came  to  the  throne  (1689),  they  were 
not  at  once  proclaimed  sovereigns  in  Maryland.  John  Coode 
spread  the  report  that  the  delay  was  the  result  of  a  plot  on  the 
part  of  the  Catholics  and  the  Indians  to  "  cut  off  the  Protestants  " 
of  the  colony.  The  story  was  absurd  on  its  face,  for  the  Prot 
estants  greatly  outnumbered  the  Catholics  and  could  easily  have 
crushed  any  attack.  But  the  report  led  to  an  insurrection,  and 
the  colony  of  Maryland  was  split  into  two  hostile  parties,  one 
crying  out  against  the  "  villainous  practices"  of  "  the  late  Popish 
governors,"  the  other  denouncing  "the  wicked  instigation  of 
John  Coode." 


1692-1729]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS       III 

122 .  Maryland  becomes  a  royal  province ;  the  Church  of  England ; 
the  Catholics ;  Lord  Baltimore ;  the  Revolution  ;  Articles  of  Confed 
eration.    In  consequence  of  this  turmoil  the  king  decided  (1692) 
to  take  the  government  of  Maryland  into  his  own  hands,  and  the 
Assembly  established  the  Church  of  England  in  the  colony.    Puri 
tans  and  Catholics  were  now  alike  forced  to  contribute  money  for 
its  support,  and  Catholics  were  forbidden  to  hold  public  worship. 
Later  (1716),  the  introduction  of  the  Test  Act  (§  174)  had  the 
effect  of  prohibiting  Catholics  from   holding  any  office   under 
the  government.     Henceforth  until  the  Revolution,  despite  the 
sturdy  protest  of  such  patriots  as  Charles  Carroll,  citizens  of  that 
faith  "  were  taxed  to  sustain  a  religion  which  they  believed  hereti 
cal,  and  a  government  in  which  they  had  no  share." 

Meanwhile  the  Baltimores  had  become  Protestants,  and  Mary 
land  was  restored  (1715)  to  Charles  Calvert,  the  fifth  Lord  Bal 
timore.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  he  and 
his  descendants  held  the  province  until  the  war  for  independence. 
In  1729  the  great  tobacco  planters  on  the  Patapsco  founded  the 
city  of  Baltimore,  as  a  port  from  which  to  ship  that  staple.  In 
the  outset  of  the  Revolution  the  Maryland  colonists  burned  the 
taxed  tea  that  was  shipped  to  Annapolis,  and  sent  sharpshooters 
to  aid  the  Continental  army  in  besieging  the  British  force  shut  up 
in  Boston. 

123.  Summary.    The  colony  of  Maryland  was  established  by 
Lord  Baltimore  (1634)  mainly  as  a  refuge  for  English  Catholics. 
Liberty  of  worship  was  guaranteed  to  all  Christians.     Maryland 
became  involved   in   a  dispute  with  Virginia  in   regard   to  the 
possession  of  Kent  Island.     The  republican  party  in   England 
appointed    Clayborne    with    other    commissioners    to    reorganize 
the  government  of  Maryland.    The  commissioners  summoned  an 
Assembly  made  up  of  Puritan  settlers,  who  refused  to  protect 
Catholics,  and  prohibited  freedom  of  worship  to  any  but  those 
of  their  own  faith.     In  1692  Maryland  became  a  royal  province, 
and  the  Church  of  England  was  made  the  established  form  of 
worship. 


112          THE    STUDENT'S    AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1636- 

Later,  when  the  Baltimores  had  become  Protestants,  the  gov 
ernment  was  restored  to  them,  and  remained  in  their  hands 
until  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution. 


VIII.   RHODE  ISLAND  (1636)* 

124.  Roger  Williams  founds  Providence ;  the  "  lively  experi 
ment."  In  the  spring  of  1636  Roger  Williams  (§  91),  with  a  few 
friends,  formed  a  settlement  at  the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay. 
In  commemoration  of  the  many  mercies  he  had  received  from 
the  Most  High,  he  called  the  place  Providence.  "  I  desired," 

he  says,  "  it  might  be  for  a  shelter  for 
persons  distressed  for  conscience." 

In  the  colony  of  Providence  abso 
lute  religious  liberty  was  guaranteed 
to  all.  It  was,  as  Roger  Williams  said, 
"  a  lively  experiment,"  —  one  that 
had  never  been  made  before.  Early 
in  the  preceding  century  (1515)  Sir 
Thomas  More  in  his  romance  of 
Utopia  had  dared  to  hint  at  such 
toleration  in  England.  The  idea  was  regarded  as  an  excellent  jest. 
Well-nigh  fifty  years  later  (1561)  L'Hopital,  Chancellor  of  France,2 
likewise  pleaded,  but  without  success,  for  freedom  of  worship. 
Lord  Baltimore  (1634)  granted  it  in  Maryland,  but  confined  it  to 
trinitarian  Christians  (§120).  In  Rhode  Island  (1636)  Roger 
Williams,  casting  all  limitations  aside,  welcomed  men  not  only  of 
every  faith,  —  Jew,  Christian,  or  pagan,  —  but  men  of  no  faith,  to 
the  enjoyment  of  what  he  called  "soul  liberty."  3  Complete  reli 
gious  toleration  had  its  origin  in  America.  Later,  Williams  (1654) 
explained  how  this  "soul  liberty"  was  to  be  made  consistent 


1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  ix ;  V,  ch.  ii ;  and  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  vi-vii; 
Arnold's  Rhode  Island ;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era ;  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc. 

2  See  the  Leading  Facts  of  French  History,  in  this  series,  134. 

8  See  Arnold's  Rhode  Island,  I,  126;  Roger  Williams'  Letters,  278. 


1639-1657]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       113 

with  the  maintenance  of  order.  He  compared  the  colony  to  the 
passengers  in  a  ship.  No  one,  said  he,  must  "  be  forced  to  come 
to  the  ship's  prayers";  but  on  the  other  hand  no  mutiny  can 
be  permitted,  and  no  man's  religious  belief  can  be  allowed  to 
"  disturb  the  civil  peace."  ] 

A  striking  illustration  of  the  practical  working  of  such  broad 
toleration  occurred  a  few  years  later.  The  commissioners  of  the 
New  England  Confederacy  (1657)  requested  Governor  Arnold  of 
Rhode  Island  to  exclude  Quakers  as  a  "common  pest."  The 
governor  replied  that-  they  had  no  law  to  punish  them.  He 
added  ironically  that  the  Rhode  Island  colonists  had  found  by 
experience  that  where  Quakers  were  "  suffered  to  declare  them 
selves  freely  .  .  .  [there]  they  least  of  all  desire  to  come."  2 

Several  Baptists  had  already  emigrated  from  Massachusetts 
to  Providence.  Williams  gave  them  a  hearty  welcome,  and 
united  with  them  in  forming  (1639)  the  first  Baptist  Church  in 
America.  He  soon  withdrew  from  it  and  became  what  was 
then  called  a  "Seeker,"  or  independent  inquirer.  Eventually  he 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  Christianity  is  only  another  name 
for  humanity. 

125.  Government  of  the  colony ;  charter  of  the  colony.  The 
government  of  the  colony  was  a  democracy  limited  to  the  heads 
of  families.  Unmarried  men  could  not  vote,  but  must  bind  them 
selves  to  obey  the  laws.  Later  (1640),  five  men  called  "Dis 
posers  "  were  ch6sen  to  manage  affairs,  but  their  action  might 
be  modified  or  set  aside  in  town  meeting. 

Subsequently  suffrage  was  restricted  to  owners  of  real  estate, 
and  no  one  could  become  a  citizen  until  he  had  resided  in  the 
colony  for  some  time. 

In  1643  Williams  secured  a  patent8  of  incorporation  for  the 
"  Providence  Plantations."  The  patent  made  no  grant  of  land, 
but  it  gave  the  colonists  power  to  govern  themselves  provided 
they  enacted  no  laws  contrary  to  those  of  England. 

1  See  Rhode  Island  Records,  I,  376.  2  Ibid. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  18. 


114        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1663- 

Twenty  years  later  (1663),  a  royal  charter l  was  obtained  which 
confirmed  all  the  privileges  granted  by  the  first  instrument,  and 
which  expressly  provided  that  no  one  should  be  "in  any  wise 
molested  ...  for  any  difference  in  opinion  in  matters  of  religion." 
This  charter  was  so  broad  and  liberal  that  it  virtually  made  Rhode 
Island  a  "  little  republic."  When  the  colony  threw  off  the  power 
of  the  crown  in  1776,  the  clause  in  the  charter  requiring  alle 
giance  to  the  king  was  struck  out,  and  one  was  substituted  requir 
ing  allegiance  to  the  colony ;  with  this  single  change  it  then  stood 
until  1842. 

126.  Limitation  of  suffrage  versus  religious  toleration ;  Brown 
University.  But,  on  paper  at  least,  a  very  decided  limitation  of 
suffrage  had  taken  place.  In  the  statutes  of  Rhode  Island  of 
1719  a  law  which  claims  to  have  dated  from  1664  provided  that 
"all  men  professing  Christianity,"  Roman  Catholics  excepted, 
should  be  admitted  to  vote.  There  appears  to  be  no  evidence 
that  this  law  was  ever  enforced ;  but  it  was  five  times  formally 
reenacted,  and  it  remained  on  the  statute  book  until  the  close  of 
the  Revolution  (i783).2 

Unquestionably  this  act  was  a  departure  from  the  privileges 
guaranteed  by  Roger  Williams.  It  restricted  political  liberty  for 
a  religious  reason.  It  imposed  a  serious  political  disability  on 
both  Catholics  and  Jews;  nevertheless  it  did  not  directly  assail 
the  great  principle  of  freedom  of  worship. 

Under  this  law  any  one  might  settle  in  the  colony,  but  not 
every  one  could  legally  obtain  the  full  rights  of  citizenship. 
Rhode  Island  still  continued  to  be  a  refuge  for  men  of  all  creeds 
and  of  no  creed ;  and  it  was  humorously  said  that  if  any  man 
had  lost  his  religion  he  would  be  sure  to  find  it  somewhere  in 
the  "  Providence  Plantations."  Perhaps,  after  all,  it  was  a  good 
thing  that  there  was  one  corner  in  America  where  a  man  could 
find  the  religion  he  sought,  and  having  found  it  could  practice 
it  in  his  own  way  without  molestation. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  27. 

2  See  Arnold's  Rhode  Island,  II,  490,494;  Winsor's  America,  III,  379. 


sl^ul, 


176*-]         ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         115 

This  principle  found  expression  in  the  establishment  by  the 
Baptists  (1764)  of  Rhode  Island  College,  now  Brown  University. 
The  charter  of  that  noble  institution  of  learning  expressly  forbids 
the  use  of  religious  tests,  and  requires  that  not  only  Baptists  but 
Quakers,  Episcopalians,  and  Congregationalists  shall  be  included 
in  the  board  of  trustees. 

Eventually  this  broad  principle  of  toleration  obtained  national 
expression  in  the  first  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  Whether  the  "soul  liberty"  enjoyed  in  Rhode 
Island  suggested  that  amendment  or  not,  it  at  least  established  a 
precedent  for  it. 

127.  Independent  spirit  of  Rhode  Island;  resistance  to  Great 
Britain.  It  was  inevitable  that  a  colony  which  excluded  no  one 
should  be  at  times  tumultuous  in  its  exercise  of  individual  liberty. 
It  was  natural,  too,  that  Massachusetts  should  be  strongly  preju 
diced  against  a  commonwealth  established  on  principles  of  reli 
gious  toleration  by  a  man  she  had  driven  out. 

This  feeling  of  personal  independence,  though  at  times  pushed 
to  extremes,  did  good  service  in  the  end.  Governor  Shirley  of 
Massachusetts  (1754)  denounced  it  as  the  "spirit  of  mobbism." 
But  later  that  spirit  struck  the  keynote  of  the  highest  patriotism 
in  its  resistance  to  arbitrary  rule. 

When  (1764)  England  by  the  passage  of  the  Sugar  Act1  revived 
her  restrictions  on  trade  with  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies 
(§  177)  and  thus  threatened  the  commercial  ruin  of  both  Rhode 
Island  and  Massachusetts,  Stephen  Hopkins,  the  Quaker  governor 
of  Rhode  Island,  came  out  in  vigorous  defense  of  the  American 
colonies.  With  unmistakable  emphasis  he  declared  that  "  the  Par 
liament  of  Great  Britain  had  no  more  right  to  make  laws  for  the 
Rhode  Islanders  than  they  had  to  make  them  for  the  Mohawks."  In 
that  spirit  the  sons  of  Rhode  Island,  led  by  General  Greene,  fought 
in  the  Revolution  which  established  our  national  independence. 

128.  Summary.    Roger  Williams  planted  the  colony  of  Rhode 
Island  on  the  basis  of  absolute  religious  freedom  for  all  men.    He 
1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  56. 


Il6        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1638-16&4 

obtained  a  patent  which  virtually  gave  the  colony  the  power  of 
self-government.  After  a  time  the  right  of  suffrage  was  legally 
restricted  to  Protestants,  but  there  was  no  interference  with 
liberty  of  worship.  From  the  outset  the  spirit  of  the  colonists 
was  vigorously  independent,  and  manifested  itself  most  effectively 
in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

IX.  NEW  SWEDEN  OR  DELAWARE  (I638)1 

129.  First  settlement  on  the  Delaware ;  Christina.  The  Dutch 
made  a  settlement  on  the  Delaware  (1631),  but  it  was  soon 
destroyed  by  the  Indians.  A  number  of  years  later,  Sweden 
resolved  to  get  a  share  of  the  American  continent,  and  to  build 
up  a  "  New  Sweden,"  which  should  rival 
Holland's  "  New  Netherland  "  and  Brit 
ain's  "  New  England." 

The  Swedish  government  engaged  ex- 
Governor  Peter  Minuit  (§  56)  to  take  over 
a  party  of  emigrants.  They  made  a  settle 
ment  (1638)  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
Delaware  within  what  are  now  the  city  lim 
its  of  Wilmington.  The  emigrants  named 
this  settlement  Christina,  in  honor  of  the  young  queen  of  Sweden. 
It  was  the  first  permanent  colony  established  in  the  Delaware 
Valley.  The  Dutch,  however,  had  no  idea  of  permitting  the 
Swedes  to  get  a  foothold  on  territory  which  they  claimed  as  their 
own.  Governor  Stuyvesant  sailed  with  an  expedition  from  New 
Amsterdam  and  compelled  (1655)  the  fort  at  Christina  to  surrender. 
The  Dutch  gave  the  Swedish  colonists  permission  to  remain  in  the 
country,  and  pledged  themselves  not  to  interfere  with  their  free 
dom  of  worship.  When  the  English  captured  (§62)  New  Nether- 
land  (1664)  this  southern  territory  on  the  Delaware  became  part 
of  the  possessions  of  James,  Duke  of  York. 


1  See  Winsor's  America,  IV,  ch.  ix ;  III,  xii ;  V,  ch.  iii ;  and  Thwaites'  Colonies, 
ch.  ix;  Fisher's  Colonial  Period;  Scharf's  Delaware;  Hildreth's  United  States. 


1680-]        ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          1 17 

130.  William  Penn  purchases  Delaware ;  its  government ; 
Delaware  becomes  independent ;  enters  the  Union.  After  William 
Penn  obtained  (1680)  his  grant  of  Pennsylvania  he  was  anxious 
to  secure  a  frontage  on  the  Atlantic.  In  order  to  accomplish 
this  he  purchased  (1682)  the  region  then  called  the  "Three 
Counties  upon  the  Delaware"  from  the  Duke  of  York. 

Penn  annexed  these  three  counties  to  his  province  and  named 
them  the  "  Territories  of  Pennsylvania  "  ;  they  were  governed  as 
part  of  that  province  until  1701.  The  people  of  the  "Territo 
ries  "  then  succeeded  in  getting  a  charter  from  Penn  under  which 
they  established  a  legislature  of  their  own. 

That  charter  followed  the  "  Frame  of  Government"  of  Penn 
sylvania  and  was  equally  liberal  in  its  terms.  It  granted:  (i) 
freedom  of  worship  to  all  who  believed  in  "  One  Almighty 
God";  (2)  no  one  could  be  required  to  contribute  toward  the 
support  of  any  form  of  religion  to  which  he  conscientiously 
objected ;  (3)  all  persons  who  professed  belief  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  who  solemnly  promised  allegiance  to  the  king  and  fidelity  to 
the  Proprietor  and  to  the  governor  of  Pennsylvania  were  eligible 
to  office.1 

In  1776  the  inhabitants  of  the  "Territories  of  Pennsylvania" 
declared  themselves  an  independent  state.  They  took  the  name 
of  Delaware  from  that  of  the  river  forming  their  northeast  bound 
ary.  In  the  battles  of  the  Revolution  no  regiment  fought  more 
bravely  than  that  popularly  known  as  the  "  Blue  Hen's  Chickens," 
or  the  "  Gamecocks  of  Delaware."  The  state,  by  a  prompt,  unani 
mous,  and  enthusiastic  vote,  was  the  first  in  order  of  time  to 
accept  the  Constitution  and  to  enter  the  new  American  Union  so 
established. 

131.  Summary.  Delaware  was  originally  settled  (1638)  by 
the  Swedes  at  Christina  (now  Wilmington),  but  the  Dutch  from 
New  Netherland  soon  got  possession  of  the  province.  After  the 
conquest  of  New  Netherland  by  the  English,  Delaware  was  pur 
chased  from  the  Duke  of  York  by  William  Penn,  who  annexed  it 

1  See  Poore's  Constitutions  and  Charters,  I,  270. 


Il8         THE    STUDENT'S    AMERICAN    HISTORY     [16OM665 

to  his  province  of  Pennsylvania.  Eventually  the  people  of  Dela 
ware  obtained  a  charter  from  Penn  and  established  a  Legislature 
of  their  own.  In  1776  they  declared  themselves  independent  of 
Great  Britain  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  Revolution.  Dela 
ware  was  the  first  state  to  accept  the  Constitution  and  to  enter 
the  American  Union. 


•ENNSYLMANIA 


X-XI.  NORTH  AND  SOUTH  CAROLINA  (1663) l 

132.  Charles  II  grants  "  Carolina";  settlements  in  that  region. 

Charles  I  by  his  grant  of  Maryland  (1632)  had  greatly  reduced 
the  area  of  Virginia  on  the  north ;  his  son 
Charles  II  cut  off  a  still  larger  slice  from 
the  original  territory  of  the  "  Old  Domin 
ion."  In  1662  that  lavish  monarch  issued 
a  charter2  to  Lord  Clarendon  and  seven 
other  court  favorites,  giving  them  all  the 
region  along  the  coast  between  Albemarle 
Sound  and  the  St.  John's  River  of  Florida. 
Westward  the  tract  extended  to  the  Pa 
cific.  The  king  named  the  province  Caro 
lina  in  honor  of  himself.  Two  years  later 
(1665),  Charles  extended  this  grant  half 
a  degree  farther  north,  and,  in  open  defi 
ance  of  the  claims  of  Spain,  pushed  the  boundary  on  the  south 
until  it  not  only  included  the  ancient  Spanish  city  of  St.  Augustine 
(§23)  but  overlapped  it  by  nearly  seventy  miles. 

The  Proprietors  of  this  vast  province  received  large  discretion 
ary  executive  power.  They  might  make  all  needful  laws,  provided 
they  received  "  the  approbation  "  of  a  majority  of  the  freemen  of 
the  colony.  They  might  also  grant  such  religious  liberty  as  they 
thought  "  fit  and  reasonable." 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  V,  ch.  v ;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  iv ;  Fisher's  Colonial 
Era ;  McCrady's  South  Carolina ;  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  26. 


Bt  Augustine  1666 


1653-1672]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS        119 

Emigrants  from  Virginia  had  already  moved  into  this  country 
and  settled  (1653)  on  the  Chowan  River,  or  Albemarle  district. 
Later  (1665),  Englishmen  coming  from  the  Barbadoes  formed 
a  settlement  at  Cape  Fear,  or  the  Clarendon  district.  When 
George  Fox  (§95)  pushed  his  way  south  across  the  Great 
Dismal  Swamp  (1672)  and  entered  Carolina  he  received  a  warm 
welcome  from  certain  Quakers  who  had  fled  there  and  had  built 
colonies  on  the  Chowan  River. 

133.  The  "  Grand  Model  "  ;  provisions  respecting  society,  laws, 
religion.  The  Proprietors  of  Carolina  adopted  (1669)  a  cumbrous 
and  complex  constitution,1  popularly  known  as  the  "  Grand 
Model."  It  was  to  stand  "forever"  and  could  not  be  amended 
or  altered.  The  "  Grand  Model "  was  mainly  the  work  of  the 
eminent  English  philosopher  John  Locke.  Feudalism  had  died 
a  natural  death  in  England,  but  Locke  proposed  to  resurrect  it, 
and  transplant  it  in  a  modified  form  to  the  pine  forests  of  the 
New  World. 

The  avowed  object  of  the  "  Grand  Model "  was  to  "  avoid 
erecting  a  numerous  democracy,"  —  or  to  grant  as  little  power  to 
the  people  as  possible.  It  aimed  to  build  up  a  political  and 
social  pyramid.  The  base  was  formed  of  negro  slaves,  subject 
in  all  respects  to  the  "  absolute  power  "  of  their  masters.  Next 
above  the  negroes  came  the  white  agricultural  laborers.  They  were 
serfs  of  the  soil ;  they  had  no  right  to  vote,  or  even  to  leave  the 
estate  on  which  they  worked,  without  permission  of  the  owners. 
In  that  condition  they  and  their  children  were  to  remain  "  to  all 
generations."  Above  these  serfs  came  a  class  of  well-to-do  but 
untitled  landholders  who  had  the  right  to  vote  and  a  voice  in 
legislation. 

Above  this  class  was  the  nobility,  holding  vast  estates,  descend 
ing  from  father  to  son  forever.  Finally,  a  corporation  of  eight 
wealthy  and  titled  Proprietors  crowned  all.  The  eldest  Proprietor 
represented  the  king ;  the  whole  proprietary  body  was  "  self- 
renewing  and  immortal." 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  33. 


120        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1698-1729 

134.  Mode  of  legislation;  religious  toleration;  the  colony  be 
comes  a  .royal  province.     All  laws  were  to  be  made  by  a  Parlia 
ment  consisting  of  the  "  Proprietors  (or  their  deputies),  together 
with  the  nobility  and  a  small  proportion  of  the  untitled  land 
holders."     The  Proprietors  could  veto  the  laws  enacted  by  this 
Parliament,  and  so  control  the  government. 

With  respect  to  religion  the  "  Grand  Model "  provided  that 
all  persons  who  acknowledged  "  that  there  is  a  God  "  and  admitted 
the  rightfulness  of  taking  oaths  should  have  freedom  of  worship. 
Those  who  denied  the  existence  of  God  could  neither  vote  nor 
hold  real  estate.  Persons  above  the  age  of  seventeen,  not  mem 
bers  of  some  religious  society,  could  not  claim  the  protection 
of  the  laws.  Finally,  the  Church  of  England  and  "  it  alone  " 
was  to  be  maintained  in  Carolina  by  public  taxation,  —  other 
churches  must  support  themselves.  The  above  provisions  ex 
cluded  Quakers,  since  they  refused  to  take  an  oath,  but  did  not 
shut  out  Jews  or  Catholics. 

The  Proprietors,  after  more  than  twenty  years  of  vain  struggle, 
gave  up  the  attempt  (1698)  to  enforce  this  peculiar  constitution. 
In  1720  the  colony  became  a  royal  province,  and  the  crown 
divided  it  (1729)  into  North  and  South  Carolina.  Under  the 
royal  government  religious  liberty  was  granted  to  all  Christians 
except  Catholics. 

135.  Settlement  of  Charleston ;  Huguenot  emigrants ;  cultivation 
of  rice  and  indigo.    In  1670  British  emigrants  settled  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Ashley  River.     Two  years  later  (1672),  they  founded 
the  city  of  Charleston.     The  same  year  slaves  were  brought  into 
the  colony  from  the  Barbadoes.     They  increased  until  they  out 
numbered  the  white  population. 

In  order  to  escape  the  merciless  persecution  of  Louis  XIV 
numbers  of  Huguenots  (§22)  fled  to  America,  and  many  came  to 
Charleston.  These  religious  refugees  represented  in  large  degree 
not  only  the  bone  and  sinew  but  the  brain  and  conscience  of 
France.  From  them  sprang  such  patriots  as  Henry  Laurens  and 
Francis  Marion,  while  from  Huguenot  settlers  in  other  colonies 


1694-1742]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       121 

came  John  Sevier,  Peter  Faneuil,  John  Bayard,  James  Bowdoin, 
Paul  Revere,  Elias  Boudinot,  and  John  Jay. 

For  many  years  the  chief  exports  from  the  Carolinas  were 
derived  mainly  from  the  pine  forests  or  from  traffic  with  the 
Indians.  These  exports  consisted  largely  of  turpentine,  tar, 
pitch,  and  rosin,  or  of  furs  and  deerskins.  A  bag  of  seed  rice, 
obtained  (1694)  by  chance  from  the  captain  of  a  vessel  that  put 
in  at  Charleston,  led  to  the  cultivation  of  that  valuable  grain. 
In  time  it  became  the  principal  article  of  export  from  South 
Carolina.  Its  production  created  a  great  demand  for  negroes, 
and  planters  reaped  rich  harvests  from  the  swamp  lands  along 
the  coast.  Had  the  white  settlers  attempted  the  cultivation  of 
those  lands  under  the  fierce  rays  of  a  southern  sun,  they  would 
have  simply  "  dug  their  own  graves." 

Nearly  half  a  century  after  the  introduction  of  rice  culture, 
the  daughter  of  a  planter  near  Charleston  obtained  (1742)  some 
indigo  seed  from  the  West  Indies  and  succeeded  in  making  it 
grow.  Indigo  raising  rapidly  extended.  Before  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  for  independence  the  yearly  export  of  this  prod 
uct  exceeded  a  million  pounds,  and  it  often  proved  immensely 
profitable. 

136.  Indian  wars ;  Governor  Tryon.  The  progress  of  North 
Carolina  was  greatly  retarded  by  wars  (1711-1713)  with  the  for 
midable  Tuscarora  Indians,  who,  according  to  tradition,  were  an 
offshoot  of  the  ferocious  Iroquois  of  New  York.  By  the  help  of 
South  Carolina  and  Virginia  the  power  of  the  Tuscaroras  was 
(1713)  completely  broken.  The  greater  part  of  the  tribe  emi 
grated  north  and  joined  the  Iroquois  confederacy  —  hereafter 
known  as  the  Six  Nations. 

But,  though  small  in  numbers,  the  North  Carolinians  were 
made  of  resolute  stuff;  as  they  fought  the  savages,  so  in  a  differ 
ent  way  they  fought  against  the  exactions  of  the  royal  governors. 
When  they  demanded  taxes,  the  people  replied  by  demanding 
better  government.  The  watchword  of  these  sturdy  backwoods 
men  was  "  No  reforms,  no  money." 


122 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


[1771 


Finally,  the  extortions  of  Governor  Tryon  —  nicknamed  the 
"  Great  Wolf  of  North  Carolina  "  —  drove  the  back-country  colo 
nists  into  open  revolt.  They  organized  bands  of  "  Regulators," 
who  not  only  refused  to  pay  oppressive  fees  and  taxes,  but 
flogged  the  lawyers  and  shut  up  the  courts. 

137.  Battle  of  Alamance;  Spotswood,  Robertson,  and  Sevier;  the 
Stamp-Act  Congress.  Tryon  attacked  a  body  of  the  patriots  who 
had  gathered  near  the  Alamance  River  (1771)  in  western  North 
Carolina.  The  governor  had  a  much  superior  force,  and  so 
gained  the  day.  He  hanged  seven  prisoners  as  "  rebels "  and 


MAP  OF  SETTLEMENT  OF  TENNESSEE  AND  KENTUCKY 

"  traitors."  They  died  as  bravely  as  they  had  fought.  The 
battle  of  Alamance  struck  a  blow  at  unjust  taxation  and  spilt 
blood  that  prophesied  the  Revolution. 

More  than  half  a  century  before  (1716),  Governor  Spotswood 
of  Virginia  (§51)  climbed  the  Blue  Ridge,  and,  looking  down 
into  the  great  valley  of  the  West,  drank  the  health  of  George  I 
in  brimming  tumblers  of  punch.  The  Virginia  governor,  how 
ever,  did  not  venture  beyond  the  Shenandoah  Valley ;  but  after 
the  battle  of  Alamance,  James  Robertson  of  North  Carolina  led 
(1771)  a  band  of  emigrants  into  that  western  country.  They 
resolved  to  move  into  the  remote  wilderness  out  of  Tryon's  reach. 


1765-1771]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       123 

After  a  long  and  difficult  journey  over  the  mountains  they  settled 
on  the  Wautauga  River.  There  John  Sevier  of  Virginia  joined 
Robertson  (1772)  ;  these  two  pioneers,  one  of  Scotch,  the  other 
of  Huguenot  descent  (§  135),  laid  the  foundation  of  the  state  of 
Tennessee. 

James  Harrod  (17 74). led  a  band  of  pioneers  into  the  valley 
of  the  Kentucky.  Soon  afterward  Daniel  Boone,  the  famous 
hunter,  who  had  long  been  exploring  "  the  land  of  promise  "  west 
of  the  mountains,  settled  Boonesboro  (1775)  in  the  same  valley. 
Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  state  of  Kentucky.  These  resolute 
men  pushed  the  frontiers  of  the  colonies  beyond  the  Alleghenies, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  future  greatness  of  the  American 
Republic. 

But  before  this  opening  of  "  the  West,"  or  what  was  called 
"  the  West"  at  that  day,  occurred,  the  citizens  of  Charleston 
(1765)  publicly  burned  the  obnoxious  Stamp  Act.  A  little  later, 
Christopher  Gadsden,  a  "  born  republican,"  with  his  brother 
patriot  John  Rutledge,  met  the  delegates  from  the  united  colo 
nies  in  New  York  at  that  memorable  Stamp-Act  Congress  (1765), 
which  has  been  called  the  "  Day  Star  of  American  Liberty." 

138.  Summary.  By  a  sea-to-sea  charter  Charles  II  granted 
Carolina  (1663)  to  Lord  Clarendon  and  a  number  of  associates. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  govern  the  colony  under  a  constitution 
called  the  "  Grand  Model,"  but  the  people  demanded  a  voice  in 
the  government ;  the  constitution  was  cast  aside,  and  the  colony 
became  a  royal  province,  which  was  soon  afterward  divided  into 
North  and  South  Carolina.  A  settlement  had  been  made  at 
Charleston  which  attracted  many  Huguenot  emigrants.  The 
introduction  of  slavery  made  the  cultivation  of  rice  and  indigo 
very  profitable  in  South  Carolina,  while  the  northern  province 
engaged  largely  in  the  export  of  the  productions  of  the  pine 
forests  and  of  furs. 

The  resistance  of  the  settlers  of  North  Carolina  to  the  oppres 
sive  measures  of  Governor  Tryon  led  to  the  battle  of  Alamance, 
—  a  forerunner  of  the  Revolution.  Shortly  afterward,  emigrants 


124 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


[1681 


from  the  Carolinas  settled  the  Kentucky  and  the  Tennessee 
country.  It  was  the  first  decided  movement  of  English  colonists 
toward  taking  possession  of  the  West. 

Gadsden  and  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  Stamp-Act  Congress,  which  asserted  the  principles 
of  American  liberty. 


XII.  PENNSYLVANIA  (I68I)1 

139.  Grant  of  Pennsylvania  to  William  Penn;  Penn's  object; 
provisions  of  the  charter.  William  Penn,  one  of  the  most  influential 
of  the  English  Quakers,  inherited  from  his  father,  Admiral  Penn, 
_  a  claim  against  the  crown  for  ^"16,000. 

Charles  II  discharged  the  debt  by  issuing 
(1681)  a  charter 2  granting  his  creditor  an 
immense  tract  of  land  bordering  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Delaware  and  extend 
ing  five  degrees  into  the  interior.  Out  of 
respect  to  the  memory  of  Penn's  father, 
the  king  named  the  new  province  Penn 
sylvania  or  Penn's  Woods. 

Penn's  object  was  to  make  what  he 
called  a  "  holy  experiment "  ;  in  other 
words,  to  found  a  commonwealth  in  Amer 
ica  where  all  Christians  might  dwell  to 
gether  on  the  broad  basis  of  the  Golden  Rule.  Such  toleration 
did  not  exist  in  the  old  country.  Those  who  did  not  uphold 
the  established  form  of  worship  were  regarded  as  virtually 
disloyal.  Penn  declared  that  according  to  the  current  of  thought 
then  prevailing  in  Great  Britain,  "  No  churchman  meant  no 
Englishman,  and  no  conformist  meant  no  subject."  In  despair 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  III,  ch.  xii ;  V,  ch.  iii ;  and  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  ix ; 
Sharpless'  Quaker  Government  in  Pennsylvania ;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era ;  Macdon- 
ald's  Select  Charters,  etc. ;  Hazard's  Annals  of  Pennsylvania ;  Fisher's  Making  of 
Pennsylvania ;  Fisher's  Pennsylvania. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  38. 


ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          125 

of  obtaining  religious  liberty  at  home,  he  now  turned  to  the 
New  World. 

The  charter  made  him  (i)  the  "true  and  absolute  Proprie 
tary"  (or  Proprietor)  of  Pennsylvania,  which  was  to  include  three 
degrees  of  latitude  by  five  degrees  of  longitude  west  from  the 
Delaware ;  (2)  acting  with  the  freemen  of  the  colony,  he  had 
power  to  make  all  needful  laws,  provided  they  were  not  repug 
nant  to  the  laws  of  England ;  all  legislation  was  subject  to  the 
king's  veto ;  (3)  the  Church  of  England  might  be  established  in 
the  colony,  but  no  restrictions  were  to  be  imposed  on  other  forms 
of  Christian  worship ;  (4)  the  Proprietor  had  the  sole  power  to 
erect  courts  and  appoint  judges  for  the  colony  ;  (5)  it  was  expressly 
provided  that  the  English  Parliament  should  have  the  right  to 
levy  not  only  customs  duties  but  taxes  on  the  people  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  This  last  provision  had  never  before  been  inserted  in 
any  colonial  charter.  For  nearly  a  hundred  years  it  remained  as 
harmless  as  a  sheathed  sword,  then  out  of  it  suddenly  sprang  the 
war  for  independence. 

140.  Emigration  to  Pennsylvania  (1681) ;  Penn's  Constitution 
or  "Frame  of  Government."  Penn  at  once  (1681)  sent  over 
several  hundred  emigrants  to  Pennsylvania.  They  formed,  he 
declared,  "  the  seed  of  the  nation."  He  said  to  them,  "  You 
shall  be  governed  by  laws  of  your  own  making."  All  settlers 
could  buy  land  at  the  rate  of  forty  shillings  a  hundred  acres, 
but  on  each  lot  they  were  required  to  pay  to  the  Proprietor  of 
Pennsylvania-  a  perpetual  annual  rent  of  one  shilling.  This 
trifling  rent  became  the  cause  of  most  vexatious  disputes. 

While  in  England  (1681)  Penn  drew  up  a  "Frame  of  Gov 
ernment  "  J  in  which  he  carefully  limited  his  own  power  and  that 
of  the  Proprietors  who  should  succeed  him.  He  imposed  these 
checks  in  order  "  that  the  will  of  one  man  "  might  "  not  hinder 
the  good  of  a  whole  country."  "  Liberty  without  obedience,"  said 
he,  "  is  confusion,"  but  "  obedience  without  liberty  is  slavery." 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  40.  This  first  constitution  or  "  Frame 
of  Government"  was  followed  by  three  others  in  1683,  1696,  and  1701. 


126          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1682 

To  this  constitution  forty  "fundamental  laws  "  x  were  appended 
which  received  the  assent  of  Penn  and  the  emigrants.  One  of 
the  most  important  of  these  laws  was  that  which  forbade  that  any 
child  should  be  brought  up  in  idleness,  and  required  every  one 
to  learn  some  useful  trade. 

In  1682  Penn  himself  sailed  for  Pennsylvania,  taking  with 
him  about  a  hundred  emigrants,  "mostly  English  Quakers."  He 
landed  at  Newcastle,  on  the  Delaware,  and  there  took  formal 
possession  of  his  province. 

141.  The  "  Great  Law";  Philadelphia  founded  (1682);  treaty 
with  the  Indians.  At  Chester,  Penn  summoned  an  Assembly  of 
the  people.  Together  the  Proprietor  and  the  Assembly  enacted 
(1682)  the  "Great  Law,"  2  which  provided  that  "God"  might 
"have  his  due,  Caesar  his  due,  and  the  people  their  due." 

The  most  important  points  in  this  code  were  :  (i)  the  right 
to  vote  for  members  of  the  Assembly  was  restricted  to  men  of 
good  character  who  held  the  Christian  faith  and  were  taxpayers ; 
(2)  only  those  who  professed  Christianity  could  hold  office  or  sit 
in  the  Legislature  (but  later,  Catholics  (§  179)  were  debarred  from 
voting  or  holding  office)  ;  (3)  every  colonist  might  demand  trial  by 
jury ;  willful  murder,  but  willful  murder  only,  was  punishable  by 
death  ;  the  prisons  were  not  to  be  places  of  punishment  only,  but 
schools  of  industry  and  of  reformation  ;  (4)  the  laws  of  the  colony 
were  to  be  printed  and  taught  to  all  children ;  (5)  "  no  person  " 
who  should  confess  "Almighty  God  to  be  the  creator,  upholder, 
and  ruler  of  the  world"  should  "in  any  wise  be  molested  "  or 
"compelled  to  frequent  or  maintain  any  religious  worship  ";  but 
all  persons  were  required  to  keep  the  Lord's  day  sacred. 

Later  in  that  year  (1682),  Philadelphia  was  founded.  Its 
scriptural  name  gave  fit  expression  to  Penn's  spirit  of  brotherly 
love.  Shortly  afterward  he  met  the  Indians  in  solemn  council, 
under  the  spreading  branches  of  a  huge  elm.  The  ferocious 
Iroquois  despised  the  less  warlike  Delawares  whom  they  had  con 
quered.  Tradition  declares  that  the  Proprietor  of  Pennsylvania 
1  See  Hazard's  Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  568.  2  Ibid.,  619. 


1682-1688]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS       I2/ 

concluded  a  famous  treaty1  with  the  Delawares  which  secured 
the  unbroken  friendship  of  that  peaceable  tribe  of  red  men  for 
more  than  sixty  years,  or  as  long  as  the  Quakers  held  control  of 
the  province.  So  completely  did  the  founder  of  the  colony  gain 
the  confidence  of  the  natives  by  his  fair  dealing,  that  the  highest 
praise  a  Delaware  Indian  could  give  a  white  man  was  to  say, 
"  He  is  like  William  Penn." 

142.  Disputes  in  the  colony;    growth  of  Philadelphia;    first 
printing  press.    Penn  had  no  sooner  returned  to  England  (1684) 
than  quarrels  broke   out  between   the   settlers  and   the  deputy 
governor.     From  that  time  forward  there  was  little  peace  in  the 
colony.     One   chief  ground   of  dispute   was    the    claim  of   the 
Assembly  to  limit  the  governor's  expenditure  of  money  to  cer 
tain  objects. 

But  notwithstanding  these  stormy  political  discussions  the  new 
colony  prospered  in  a  very  remarkable  degree.  In  the  short 
space  of  fourteen  years  from  its  foundation,  Philadelphia  was 
described  as  a  "  noble  and  beautiful  city"  of  "above  two  thou 
sand  houses,"  and  the  capital  of  a  province  having  more  than 
twenty  thousand  inhabitants. 

It  could  also  boast  of  the  first  permanent  printing  press  set  up 
south  of  New  England  (1686).  On  that  press,  which  Benjamin 
Franklin  may  have  worked  later,  William  Bradford  printed  the 
attacks  of  the  political  disputants  of  his  day.  It  was  a  war  of 
pamphlets,  making  up  in  vehemence  what  they  lacked  in  size. 

143.  Quaker  remonstrance  against  slavery  (1688) ;    iron  and 
coal  mines  opened.     Nothing,  however,  which  Bradford  sent  out 
from  his  press  had  such  deep  meaning  as  a  petition  addressed 
to  the  Friends'  Yearly  Meeting  (1688)  by  the  German  Quakers 
of  Germantown.     That  paper,  which  seems  never  to  have  been 
printed,  voiced   the   first  organized   movement  in  the   colonies 
against  slavery,  for  negro  bondage  had  already  been  introduced 
into  Pennsylvania.     The  petition  asked,  "Have  these  poor  negers 
not  as  much  right  to  fight  for  their  freedom,  as  you  have  to  keep 

1  Hazard's  Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  634. 


128         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1688-1755 

them  slaves  ?  "  *  This  protest  was  the  forerunner  of  a  movement 
which,  three  generations  later  (1776),  had  a  practical  issue.  On 
the  eve  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  the  Quakers  of  Penn 
sylvania  commanded  all  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in 
that  state  to  free  their  slaves.  A  few  years  later  (1780),  the  state 
passed  an  act  —  the  first  on  record  —  which  provided  for  the 
gradual  emancipation  of  that  species  of  human  property  which 
Penn  himself  had  once  seen  no  harm  in  holding. 

Meanwhile  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  had  discovered  one  of 
the  greatest  sources  of  their  future  wealth.  They  had  opened 
iron  mines  (1720),  had  set  up  an  iron  furnace,  and  later  (1755) 
had  exported  a  considerable  quantity  of  that  metal  to  England. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  (1791)  anthracite 
coal  was  accidentally  discovered  at  Mauch  Chunk  Mountain. 
The  use  of  this  coal  for  fuel  and  for  iron  manufacturing  led  to 
the  development  of  the  two  leading  industries  of  the  state. 

144.  The  Quakers  and  the  French  and  Indian  wars  ;  a  struggle 
for  life ;  dispute  with  the  English  Proprietaries  of  the  colony. 
Until  the  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  wars  (1750)  the  his 
tory  of  Pennsylvania  was  comparatively  uneventful.  The  Quakers 
were  nonresistants,  and  though  a  part  of  them  justified  purely 
defensive  war,  others  felt  that  they  could  not  conscientiously  aid 
in  equipping  troops  to  fight  the  invaders.  This  reluctance  led,  a 
few  years  later  (1756),  to  their  ceasing  to  exercise  political  power 
in  the  colony. 

After  Braddock's  defeat  (1755)  (§  168)  the  Pennsylvanians 
found  themselves  engaged  in  a  fierce  struggle  for  life.  The  knife 
of  the  savage  was  at  their  throats  and  the  settlers  on  the  western 
frontier  were  flying  in  despair.  The  hostility  of  the  Indians  was 
doubtless  due  in  some  measure  to  the  notorious  "  Walking  Pur 
chase  "  fraud  (1737)  by  which  certain  greedy  and  unscrupulous 
white  men  swindled  them  out  of  a  very  large  tract  of  land  in  the 
"  Forks  of  the  Delaware."  2  But  the  people  rose  to  meet  the 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  by  Contemporaries,  II,  No.  102. 

2  See  Fisher's  Pennsylvania,  Colony  and  Commonwealth,  114. 


1755-1757]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       129 

emergency ;  they  girded  themselves  for  battle,  and  volunteers 
rushed  forward.  The  war  spirit  was  stimulated  to  the  highest 
degree  by  the  offer  of  a  bounty  of  $130  for  every  Indian  scalp 
brought  in. 

But  the  English  Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania  who  had  succeeded 
Penn  showed  little  interest  in  the  welfare  or  safety  of  the  colony. 
Their  object  was  to  get  all  the  revenue  they  could  out  of  it,  and 
to  spend  nothing  for  it.  They  owned  tracts  of  land  in  the  prov 
ince  valued  at  ^10,000,000,  but  they  refused  to  pay  a  single 
penny  in  taxes  on  this  vast  property.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
insisted  that  the  colonists  should  raise  troops  at  their  own  expense 
to  defend  the  interests  of  the  province  and  at  the  same  time  to 
protect  the  untaxed  real  estate  of  the  Proprietors  residing  three 
thousand  miles  away. 

The  Assembly  indignantly  refused  to  shed  the  blood  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  sake  of  the  English  owners.  They 
sent  Benjamin  Franklin  (1757)  to  London  to  protest  against  the 
selfish  greed  of  the  Proprietors  and  to  demand  that  they  should 
bear  their  share  of  the  burdens  of  the  colonial  government. 
Franklin  succeeded,  after  a  long  and  vexatious  contest,  in  getting 
an  order  from  the  authorities  in  England  commanding  that  the 
surveyed  lands  belonging  to  the  Proprietors  should  be  taxed  in 
future.  Henceforth  the  successors  of  the  illustrious  founder  of 
Pennsylvania  could  no  longer  boast  that  their  possessions  in 
America  were  exempt  from  public  charges,  yet  were  protected 
at  public  cost. 

145.  Settlement  of  the  boundary  question  ;  "Mason  and  Dixon's 
Line"  ;  services  of  Dickinson,  Franklin,  and  Morris.  Later,  another 
serious  controversy  was  satisfactorily  concluded.  Ever  since  the 
settlement  of  Philadelphia  the  question  of  the  southern  boundary 
line  of  the  colony  had  been  a  matter  of  dispute  between  Penn 
and  Lord  Baltimore  and  their  successors.  Penn's  charter  fixed 
that  boundary  at  the  fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude,  but  it  was 
found  that  this  parallel  not  only  ran  north  of  Philadelphia,  but 
that  it  wholly  shut  out  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  from  any  part 


130          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [17(»- 

of  Delaware  Bay.  The  intent  of  the  charter  was  clearly  to  secure 
to  Penn  a  certain  amount  of  seacoast,  hence  a  new  survey  was 
demanded. 

This  was  finally  made  (1763-1767)  by  Mason  and  Dixon,  two 
skilled  English  surveyors.  They  fixed  the  southern  boundary  at 
39°  43'.  When  practicable,  milestones  were  set  up  along  this 
parallel  for  the  whole  distance  of  280  miles.  On  every  fifth 
stone  the  arms  of  the  Penn  family  were  carved  on  the  northern 
side  and  those  of  the  Baltimores  on  the  southern  side.  "  Mason 
and  Dixon's  Line"  was  destined  to  have  political  significance,  for 
it  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  dividing  mark,  east  of  the  Ohio 
River,  between  the  free  and  the  slave  states. 

But  a  far  greater  struggle  was  now  at  hand.  George  III 
asserted  the  right  of  the  crown  to  tax  the  colonists  without  ask 
ing  their  consent.  John  Dickinson  protested  in  his  "  Farmer's 
Letters."  The  progress  of  the  Revolution  soon  kindled  the  whole 
thirteen  colonies  into  a  blaze.  The  three  most  eminent  citizens 
of  Pennsylvania  —  Franklin,  Dickinson,  and  Robert  Morris  —  met 
on  the  floor  of  the  first  Continental  Congress  assembled  at  Phila 
delphia  (1776).  Franklin  served  on  the  committee  which  drafted 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  At  the  same  time  Dickinson 
drew  up  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  —  the  first  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  Morris  later  devised  methods  for  finding 
means  to  carry  on  the  war.  Thus  in  a  high  political  and  finan 
cial  as  well  as  in  a  purely  geographical  sense,  Pennsylvania  proved 
herself  the  Keystone  State  of  the  Union. 

146.  Summary.  The  colony  of  Pennsylvania  was  founded  by 
William  Penn  as  a  refuge  for  the  persecuted  brethren  of  his 
faith.  The  corner  stone  of  his  new  American  commonwealth 
was  the  Golden  Rule.  Religious  toleration  was  granted  to  all 
who  believed  in  God  as  the  creator  and  ruler  of  the  world. 
The  right  to  vote  and  to  hold  office  was  originally  granted  to 
those  who  professed  the  Christian  faith,  but  later  it  was  withheld 
from  Catholics.  The  Pennsylvanians,  notwithstanding  their  dis 
putes  with  the  governors  of  the  colony,  prospered  in  a  remarkable 


1732-1733]    ENGLISH' AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS     131 

degree.  The  Quakers  organized  the  first  general  movement 
against  slavery,  and  the  Keystone  State  was  the  first  to  pass  an  act 
of  emancipation.  Three  of  its  leading  citizens,  Franklin,  Morris, 
and  Dickinson,  took  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  movement 
which  secured  our  national  independence. 


/"  VIRGINIA 

TENNESSEE    ./  NORTH 


XIII.   GEORGIA  (I/33)1 

147.  Oglethorpe  and  associates  found  Georgia;  their  objects; 
the  charter.  Of  the  thirteen  colonies  none  had  a  nobler  origin 
than  Georgia,  the  last  of  the  series.  In  answer  to  a  petition 
made  by  the  soldier  and 
philanthropist  James  Ogle 
thorpe  and  others,  George 
II  granted  (1732)  to  him 
and  his  associates  a  charter 2 
for  a  tract  of  land  for 
twenty-one  years,  in  the 
southern  part  of  South  Caro 
lina  (§132).  The  tract 
embraced  the  country  bor 
dering  on  the  Atlantic 
between  "  the  most  north 
ern  part"  of  the  Savannah 
and  "  the  most  southern 

stream  "  of  the  Altamaha  rivers  ;   "  westerly  "  it  extended  "  from 
the  heads  of  the  said  rivers  "  to  the  "  South  Seas  "  or  the  Pacific. 

Oglethorpe  had  three  chief  objects  in  view:  (i)  to  give  the 
worthy  and  honest  poor  of  England  —  especially  those  confined 
in  debtors'  prisons  —  an  opportunity  to  begin  life  anew  under 
more  favorable  circumstances  than  the  Old  World  could  offer 
them ,  (2)  to  furnish  a  refuge  to  the  persecuted  Protestants  of 


1  See  Winsor's  America,  V,  ch.  vi ;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  xlii ;  Fisher's  Colonial 
Era  ;  Jones'  Georgia  ;  Macdonald's  Select  Charters. 

2  gee  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  49. 


St.Aupustine  1565 


132          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN*  HISTORY         [roa- 

southern  Europe;  (3)  to  protect  the  Carolinians  against  the 
attacks  of  the  Spaniards  of  Florida  by  building  up  a  settlement 
on  the  southern  frontier. 

The  new  colony  was  named  Georgia  in  honor  of  the  king. 
The  Company,  with  Oglethorpe  as  its  head,  was  to  hold  the 
region  "  in  trust  for  the  poor."  They  had  full  power  to  make 
needful  laws,  subject  of  course  to  the  king's  approval.  The  char 
ter  granted  freedom  of  worship  to  all  persons  except  Catholics. 
For  ten  years  every  settler  was  to  have  an  allotment  of  land 
free  of  rent ;  after  that  time  he  was  to  pay  fourpence  annually 
for  every  hundred  acres.  All  estsftes  were  to  descend  in  the 
male  line  from  father  to  son.  This  provision  caused  much  dis 
satisfaction  to  those  who  had  no  children  but  daughters,  and  the 
law  was  soon  modified  (1739)  so  that  women  could  inherit  land. 

148.  Vexatious  regulations ;  slavery  excluded ;  the  production 
of  silk.  The  weak  part  of  Oglethorpe's  philanthropic  scheme 
was  that  it  treated  the  settlers  of  Georgia  not  as  men  but  as 
children.  The  colonists  had  no  votes  and  no  voice  in  the  govern 
ment.  Furthermore,  for  nearly  twenty  years  they  could  obtain 
no  clear  title  to  land.  But  these  were  not  the  only  regulations 
which  irritated  the  emigrants.  In  England  distilled  liquors  had 
recently  supplanted  beer  to  a  great  extent  and  had  caused  a 
decided  increase  in  drunkenness.  The  trustees  of  Georgia  deter 
mined  to  banish  intemperance  from  their  model  commonwealth 
in  the  wilderness.  For  this  reason  they  "  absolutely  prohibited  " 
the  importation  of  alcoholic  spirits  into  the  province.  This  pro 
hibition  cut  off  the  people  from  trading  with  the  West  Indies, 
one  of  whose  chief  exports  was  rum,  and  so  retarded  the  growth 
of  Georgia. 

The  trustees  also  forbade  the  colonists  to  hold  slaves,  though 
every  other  American  colony  held  them.  Oglethorpe  declared 
that  slavery  was  "  a  horrid  crime  "  contrary  to  "  the  gospel >y  and 
to  "  the  fundamental  law  of  England."  Political  and  prudential 
reasons  also  influenced  the  trustees.  They  wished  to  make  the 
colonists  self-supporting;  they  believed  that  slave  labor  would 


17SM736]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS       133 

create  habits  of  idleness  on  the  part  of  the  large  planters,  while 
the  poor  whites  would  starve  because  unable  to  compete  with  the 
blacks.  Furthermore,  the  trustees  thought  that  nothing  but  a 
compact  white  population  could  serve  as  a  barrier  against  the 
invasions  of  the  savages  and  the  Spaniards ;  hence  they  did  not 
object  to  the  importation  of  white  servants  whose  services  were 
sold  for  a  term  of  years  (§  44). 

It  was  confidently  expected  that  by  white  labor  alone  the 
colony  would  become  a  great  silk-producing  settlement.  Mul 
berry  trees,  the  leaves  of  which  are  the  natural  food  of  the  silk 
worm,  grew  wild  in  that  region.  The  work  of  raising  and  caring 
for  the  worms  was  so  easy  that  much  of  it  could  be  left  to  the 
women  and  children.  Oglethorpe  thought  that  "forty  or  fifty 
thousand  persons  "  might  be  employed  in  this  way. 

The  colonial  seal  adopted  by  the  trustees  was  symbolical  not 
only  of  this  industry  but  of  the  unselfish  motives  of  the  founders  of 
the  province.  On  it  was  represented  a  group  of  silkworms  spin 
ning  their  cocoons,  while  underneath  was  the  appropriate  motto, 
Non  sibi,  sed  aliis,  —  "  Not  for  themselves,  but  for  others." 

149.  Settlement  of  Savannah  (1733)  ;  the  Salzburgers  ;  Scotch 
Highlanders.  With  these  shining  prospects  before  him,  Oglethorpe 
set  sail  in  1733  with  a  company  of  "-sober,  industrious,  and  moral 
persons  "  to  take  possession  of  the  "  Promised  Land."  A  settle 
ment  was  made  on  a  high  bluff  on  the  Savannah  River.  There 
a  city  named  from  the  river  was  laid  out.  The  site  was  admirably 
chosen,  and  Savannah  is  to-day  one  of  the  largest  cotton-exporting 
ports  in  the  United  States. 

The  year  following  the  settlement,  a  band  of  German  Prot 
estants  who  had  been  driven  out  of  Salzburg,  Austria,  by  religious 
persecution  arrived  (1734)  at  Savannah.  They  established  them 
selves  about  thirty  miles  north  of  that  town,  at  a  place  which  they, 
like  the  Israelites  of  old,  named  Ebenezer,  or  "  Stone  of  Help." 
More  such  refugees  soon  followed. 

Later  (1736),  the  trustees  sent  over  a  number  of  Scotch  High 
landers  to  protect  the  southern  frontier,  The  Scotchmen  erected 


134        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1730-1747 

a  fort  on  the  Altamaha  and  another  at  Frederica  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  to  repel  Spanish  invasion. 

The  next  year  the  fur-trading  post  of  Augusta  was  established 
on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Savannah  River.  It  became  an 
important  and  highly  profitable  center  of  traffic  with  the  Indian 
tribes  west  of  the  mountains.  From  this  point  at  a  later  period 
two  thousand  pack-horse  loads  of  valuable  skins  worth  about 
^50,000  were  annually  sent  to  Europe. 

150.  The  Wesley s  ;  Whitefield  and  slavery.  Among  those  who 
early  came  to  Savannah  were  John  and  Charles  Wesley.  John 
came  to  do  missionary  work;  his  brother  Charles  acted  as  sec 
retary  to  Oglethorpe.  John  Wesley,  though  just  beginning  his 
career,  was  a  preacher  of  great  power.  "  I  went  to  America," 
said  he,  "  to  convert  the  Indians ;  but  oh  !  "  he  added,  "  who 
shall  convert  me?"  Out  of  that  strong  religious  conviction 
sprang  the  Methodist  Church,  which  he  organized  in  England,  — 
a  Church  destined  to  do  much  toward  shaping  the  history  of  that 
country  and  of  our  own. 

The  Wesleys  were  •followed  by  that  noted  Methodist  revivalist, 
the  Reverend  George  Whitefield,  whose  impassioned  appeals 
not  even  the  imperturbable  Franklin  could  entirely  withstand. 
Whitefield  came  to  Georgia  to  found  an  orphan  asylum  near 
Savannah.  In  order  to  get  more  money  for  its  support,  he 
purchased  a  plantation  (1747)  in  South  Carolina,  stocked  it 
with  slaves,  and  gave  the  products  and  profits  to  his  "  House  of 
Mercy." 

John  Wesley,  who  later  (1772)  denounced  slavery  as  the  "  sum 
of  all  villanies,"  had  not  then  taken  any  open  stand  against  it. 
Whitefield  was  outspoken  in  its  favor.  He  declared  that  Georgia 
would  never  flourish  "  without  negroes  are  allowed."  To  grant 
the  settlers  land,  said  he,  yet  refuse  them  slaves  to  work  it,  is 
like  tying  the  colonists'  legs  and  then  ordering  them  to  walk. 
Whitefield  had  a  large  number  of  the  people  on  his  side.  The 
attempts  to  produce  silk  had  ended  in  failure,  and  the  settlers 
implored  the  trustees  to  permit  them  to  buy  negroes. 


1740-1751]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       135 

151.  The  introduction  of  negroes  and  the  importation  of  rum. 

Finally,  some  of  the  colonists  succeeded  in  hiring  negroes  from 
the  planters  in  South  Carolina.  They  got  them  at  first  for  short 
periods,  but  later  hired  them  for  life.  The  trustees  saw  that 
slavery  in  one  form  or  another  was  certain  to  creep  in,  and  they 
at  length  (1749)  reluctantly  gave  their  consent  to  its  open  and 
legal  introduction. 

They  also  conceded  the  importation  and  sale  of  rum,  a  liquor 
which  had  long  been  smuggled  into  the  colony.  The  establish 
ment  of  slavery  led  to  the  formation  of  large  plantations  for  rais 
ing  rice  and  other  products  suited  to  the  soil.  This  change  in 
the  labor  system  placed  Georgia  on  an  industrial  equality  with 
South  Carolina,  and  the  free  importation  of  rum  from  the  West 
Indies  gradually  gave  rise  to  a  prosperous  trade  with  those  islands. 

152.  Oglethorpe  and  the  Spaniards.    The  colony,  feeble  as  it 
was  in  numbers,  served  as  an  effectual  barrier  against  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  Spaniards.    Oglethorpe  had  strengthened  the  south 
ern  frontier  with  forts,  and  had  secured  the  friendship  of  several 
Indian  tribes.     In  1740  he  led  an  expedition  against  the  Spanish 
settlement  at  St.  Augustine  (§  23).     In  retaliation  the  Spaniards 
(1742)  besieged  Frederica  (§  149) ;  but  the  fort  held  out  against 
the  attack. 

General  Oglethorpe  had  valiantly  defended  the  colony,  but  the 
settlers  were  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  government  by  the 
trustees,  and  were  constantly  sending  complaints  to  London. 
The  general  went  to  England  and  refuted  these  charges.  He 
never  returned  to  the  colony,  and  the  trustees  appointed  a  presi 
dent  and  council  of  four  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  province, 
but  the  discontent  remained  unabated.  The  people  of  Georgia 
felt  able  to  take  care  of  their  own  interests  and  were  weary  of  the 
paternal  government  by  which  those  in  authority  kept  them  in 
leading-strings. 

In  1751  the  trustees  surrendered  their  charter  to  the  crown. 
They  had  found  that  the  profit  did  not  equal  the  expense,  and  they 
gladly  gave  up  their  well-meant  but  badly  managed  experiment. 


136         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1752- 

153.  Georgia  becomes  a  royal  province;  American  rights.    By 

the  surrender  of  the  charter  Georgia  now  (1752)  became  a  royal 
province,  and  so  continued  until  the  Revolution.  This  was  a 
decided  change  for  the  better,  since,  as  in  the  other  royal  prov 
inces,  an  Assembly  was  created  and  the  people  thus  obtained  a 
voice  in  the  government.  Even  then,  after  twenty  years'  exist 
ence,  the  colony  had  gained  so  little  in  numbers  that  the  entire 
population,  including  slaves,  was  estimated  at  less  than  five 
thousand. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  for  independence  the  patriot  party 
in  Georgia  took  a  firm  stand  for  "  American  rights."  When  the 
port  of  Boston  was  closed  as  a  punishment  for  the  destruction  of 
the  taxed  tea,  the  people  of  Georgia  generously  sent  nearly  six 
hundred  barrels  of  rice  to  feed  the  suffering  poor  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  capital.  After  the  battles  of  Lexington  and  Concord, 
the  citizens  of  Savannah  seized  a  quantity  of  the  king's  powder 
which  was  stored  there.  Part  of  it  they  retained  for  themselves ; 
tradition  says  that  they  sent  the  remainder  to  the  Continental 
army  at  Cambridge.  It  arrived  in  season  for  effectual  use  at  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

General  Oglethorpe  must  have  heard  of  these  proceedings  with 
no  small  interest.  He  lived  to  see  Georgia  take  its  place  among 
the  United  States,  and  to  see  England  sign  a  treaty  of  peace 
recognizing  the  independence  of  the  American  nation. 

154.  Summary.    Georgia,  the  last  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  was 
founded  (1733)  for  purposes  of  charity  and  as  a  refuge  for  the 
oppressed  Protestants  of  Germany.     For  a  time  its  growth  was 
hampered  by  vexatious  regulations  and  by  laws  restricting  trade 
and  excluding  slavery.    In  1752  Georgia  became  a  royal  province, 
and  the  people  through  their  Assembly  obtained  a  voice  in  the 
government.    At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  the  patriot  party 
in  Georgia  took  an  active  part  in  aiding  Massachusetts  and  in 
furnishing  powder  for  the  Continental  army. 


1615-1625]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS        137 

EXPLORATION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY  l 

155.  The  French  in  the  West ;  the  French  and  the  Indians  ; 
Catholic  missions.  While  the  English  colonists  were  getting  pos 
session  of  the  strip  of  Atlantic  coast  east  of  the  Alleghenies,  the 
French  in  Canada  were  rapidly  pushing  westward. 

The  fact  that  powerful  Indian  tribes  held  that  unknown  region 
greatly  facilitated  the  progress  of  the  French.  Champlain,  the 
"  Father  of  New  France,"  first  conceived  the  idea  of  acquiring 
possession  of  the  western  country  by  conciliating  the  natives. 
With  the  exception  of  his  fatal  mistake  of  entering  into  an  alliance 
with  the  Canadian  Indians  against  the  Iroquois  of  New  York,  he 
was  successful  in  his  plans.  The  English  did  not  understand  the 
Indian  character ;  the  French  endeavored  to  adapt  themselves  to 
the  red  man's  ways,  and  so  won  his  lasting  friendship.  This  they 
could  do  the  more  readily  as  their  purpose  at  the  outset  was  not, 
like  that  of  the  English,  to  plant  colonies,  but  to  establish  fur- 
trading  posts,  which,  of  course,  did  not  interfere  with  the  Indian's 
control  of  the  forest. 

Champlain  induced  a  number  of  Franciscan  friars  to  come  over 
as  missionaries  (1615)  and  begin  the  work  of  converting  the  sav 
ages.  He  meant  to  save  the  heathen,  and  at  the  same  time  save 
the  cause  of  France  in  the  New  World. 

Taking  his  life  in  his  hands,  one  of  these  gray-robed  friars  leav 
ing  Quebec  (1615)  resolutely  turned  his  face  toward  the  west  and 
struck  out  into  the  pathless  wilderness.  He  reached  Lake  Huron, 
and  there  set  up  his  altar  in  an  Indian  wigwam  on  the  shore  of 
Thunder  Bay. 

Ten  years  later  (1625),  the  Jesuit  fathers  in  France  came  over 
to  help  the  Franciscans.  The  Jesuits  infused  new  life  into  the 
undertaking.  Cardinal  Richelieu,  then  the  power  behind  the 
throne,  was  determined  that  no  emigrants  but  French  Catholics 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  IV,  ch.  v-vii ;  Winsor's  Cartier  to  Frontenac ;  Winsor's 
Mississippi  Basin;  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  xii ;  Parkman's  La  Salle;  Sloane's 
French  War  and  the  Revolution. 


138        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1625-1673 

should  land  in  Canada.  The  Jesuits,  in  full  accord  with  this 
spirit,  resolved  to  win  over  the  entire  native  population  of  New 
France  to  the  faith  they  preached. 

These  "  peaceful  soldiers  of  the  cross  "  braved  hunger,  cold, 
torture,  and  death.  Long  before  William  Penn's  band  of  colonists 
had  built  the  first  log  cabin  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  the 
French  priests,  or  "Black  Gowns,"  as  the  Indians  called  them, 
had  planted  missions  at  Mackinaw,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Green  Bay, 
and  at  Kaskaskia  on  the  Illinois.  They  were  the  first  white  men 
to  discover  the  salt  springs  of  Onondaga,  New  York,  and  the 
copper  mines  of  Lake  Superior.  They,  too,  first  described  and 
mapped  out  the  upper  Great  Lakes  and  the  streams  flowing  into 
them. 

156.  Joliet  and  Marquette  discover  the  Mississippi  (1673).    The 
Indians  told  the  Jesuits  that  there  was  an  immense  river  in  the 
West  which  flowed  southward  to  an  unknown  distance.    When 
Count  Frontenac  (§  66)  became  governor  of  Canada  (1672),  he 
sent  Joliet,  a  noted  fur  trader,  accompanied  by  Father  Marquette, 
to  discover  the  river.    The  French  hoped  that  it  emptied  into 
the  Gulf  of  California  and  that  it  would  open  the  long-sought 
way  across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific. 

Starting  from  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw  (1673),  Marquette  and 
Joliet  paddled  their  birch-bark  canoes  to  Green  Bay.  From  that 
point  they  laboriously  pushed  their  way  up  the  rapids  of  the  Fox 
River,  —  "a  way,"  said  the  good  father,  " as  hard  as  the  path  to 
heaven."  Leaving  the  head  waters  of  the  Fox,  they  carried  their 
canoes  across  the  country  a  short  distance  and  embarked  on  the 
Wisconsin.  For  a  week  they  floated  down  with  the  current,  until 
on  a  beautiful  day  in  June,  says  Marquette,  "  we  safely  entered 
the  Mississippi  with  a  joy  that  I  cannot  express." 

157.  Voyage   down   the   Mississippi   and   return.    Down  that 
great  river  they  glided  day  after  day.     They  passed  the  mouth 
of  the  Illinois,  the  castellated  rocks,  the  painted  limestone  cliffs, 
and  the  roaring  flood  of  the  muddy  Missouri.     Still  keeping  on, 
Marquette  and  Joliet  reached  the  mouth  of  the  placid  Ohio,  and 


THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  WEST 
J39 


140        THE   STUDENT'S    AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1673-1680 

two  days  later  passed  the  point  where  De  Soto  (§  20)  had  crossed 
the  Mississippi  more  than  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  before. 
Thence  moving  southward  in  the  shadow  of  forests  of  cotton- 
wood,  magnolia,  and  cypress,  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas.  There  the  natives  warned  them  that  they  would  en 
counter  hostile  tribes,  and  perhaps  Spaniards,  if  they  ventured 
farther  down  the  stream. 

The  explorers  resolved  to  go  back  and  report  what  they  had 
seen.  Under  the  fierce  rays  of  a  July  sun  they  began  the  ex 
hausting  toil  of  pushing  their  canoes  northward  against  the  power 
ful  current.  In  time  they  reached  the  Illinois,  and,  crossing  over 
from  a  tributary  of  that  stream  to  the  Chicago  River,  they  entered 
the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  where  the  greatest  city  of  the  North 
west  now  stands. 

158.  La  Salle's  expedition  to  the  Illinois  country  (1679-1680). 
Six  years  later  (1679),  La  Salle,  the  commander  of  Fort  Fronte- 
nac  (now  Kingston),  set  out  to  secure  possession  of  the  Mississippi 
to  France  and  to  open  up  trade  with  Mexico.  He  made  his  way 
to  the  Niagara  River.  There,  a  short  distance  above  the  Falls,  he 
built  the  Griffin,  the  first  vessel  ever  launched  on  the  waters  of 
the  upper  Great  Lakes. 

La  Salle  with  his  little  party,  among  whom  was  Father  Henne- 
pin,  a  Franciscan  friar,  sailed  (1679)  to  Green  Bay.  At  Green 
Bay  he  loaded  the  Griffin  with  furs  and  sent  the  vessel  back  to 
Niagara  with  orders  to  obtain  a  cargo  of  supplies  and  return  to 
him  at  the  Chicago  River  or  vicinity.  The  vessel  was  never  again 
heard  of.  La  Salle  then  embarked  with  his  men  in  a  fleet  of 
canoes  for  the  St.  Joseph  River  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake.  At 
that  point  (1679)  the  commander  constructed  Fort  Miami.  He 
then  ascended  the  St.  Joseph,  and,  crossing  over  the  portage  to 
the  head  waters  of  the  Kankakee  River,  descended  that  stream, 
entered  the  Illinois,  and  kept  on  until  (1680)  he  reached  Peoria 
Lake.  There  he  constructed  Fort  Crevecceur.  This  fort  marks 
the  first  attempt  made  by  white  men  to  take  permanent  posses 
sion  of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Illinois. 


1680-1682]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       141 

La  Salle  spent  the  winter  (1679-1680)  at  the  fort  anxiously 
hoping  for  news  of  the  arrival  of  the  Griffin  with  provisions  and 
supplies,  which  would  enable  him  to  complete  a  small  vessel  in 
which  he  purposed  descending  the  Mississippi.  Weary  of  wait 
ing,  La  Salle  at  length  resolved  to  go  back  to  Fort  Frontenac 
and  get  the  things  he  needed.  Leaving  a  small  garrison  to  hold 
Fort  Crevecoeur,  he  set  out  on  the  first  of  March  (1680),  accom 
panied  by  five  of  his  followers,  on  his  perilous  journey  of  a 
thousand  miles. 

159.  Father  Hennepin's  journey ;  La  Salle  explores  the  lower 
Mississippi  and  takes  possession  of  Louisiana  (1682) ;  his  death. 
Shortly  before  La  Salle  left  Fort  Crevecoeur  he  sent  Father 
Hennepin  (§  158)  to  explore  the  lower  Illinois.  Hennepin  went 
down  that  river  to  its  mouth  and  then  turned  northward  up 
the  Mississippi.  After  many  adventures  among  the  Indians  he 
passed  the  site  where  the  flourishing  city  of  St.  Paul  now  stands, 
and  reached  (1680)  a  cataract  which  he  named  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony;  to-day  those  falls  furnish  the  magnificent  water 
power  of  Minneapolis,  the  largest  flour-manufacturing  center 
in  the  world. 

When  the  French  commander  returned  to  the  Illinois  he  found 
Fort  Crevecoeur  deserted.  A  band  of  Iroquois  warriors  had  de 
stroyed  it.  He  was  forced  to  turn  back  and  seek  shelter  (1680) 
in  Fort  Miami  (§  158). 

Subsequently  La  Salle,  with  a  strong  party,  started  (1681)  for  the 
third  time  to  explore  the  Mississippi.  Late  in  the  season  they 
left  Fort  Miami  and  crossed  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Chicago  River. 
Following  the  frozen  Illinois,  they  reached  open  water  just  below 
Lake  Peoria.  There  they  embarked  in  their  canoes,  and  in  Feb 
ruary  (1682)  entered  the  Mississippi.  Early  in  April  the  French 
came  in  sight  of  the  gleaming  waves  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

There,  amid  volleys  of  musketry  and  shouts  of  "  Long  live  the 
king !  "  La  Salle  planted  a  wooden  column  bearing  the  arms  of 
France  at  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  "  Great  River  of  the  West." 
Then,  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV  of  France,  he  took  formal 


142         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1682-1717 

possession  of  the  Mississippi  from  its  source  to  the  sea.  and  of  all 
the  country  watered  by  it  and  by  its  tributaries.  This  immense 
territory,  stretching  from  Lake  Itasca  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
from  the  Alleghenies  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  La  Salle  named 
Louisiana  in  honor  of  the  reigning  French  sovereign.  France 
gained  all  this  magnificent  empire  more  than  thirty  years  before 
the  English  had  ventured  as  far  west  as  the  Blue  Ridge  (§  137). 

But  the  Mississippi  empties  into  a  sea  which  Spain  claimed  as 
her  own,  and  she  threatened  death  to  all  foreigners  who  should 
enter  it.  La  Salle  resolved  to  brave  that  decree,  to  fortify  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  to  hold  the  great  valley  of  the  West 
against  the  world.  The  hand  of  an  assassin  (1687)  put  a  stop 
to  the  execution  of  his  plan. 

1 60.  Iberville's  settlement ;  Mobile  founded  (1702)  ;  the  Mis 
sissippi  Company;  New  Orleans  founded  (1718).  A  number  of 
years  later,  Iberville,  a  French-Canadian  explorer,  built  a  fort  at 
Biloxi  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  (1699);  ne  tnus  began  the  first 
European  occupation  of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Mississippi. 

A  company  of  French  Protestants  begged  Louis  XIV  to  grant 
them  permission  to  emigrate  to  Louisiana.  They  received  this 
answer:  "The  king  has  not  driven  Protestants  from  France  to 
make  a  republic  of  them  in  America."  The  Biloxi  colonists  did 
not  succeed,  and  were  transferred  (1702)  to  Mobile;  there  they 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  settlement  which  eventually  became  the 
state  of  Alabama. 

A  number  of  years  later,  reports  reached  Paris  that  a  French 
man  had  found  enormous  deposits  of  gold  in  the  Illinois  country. 
John  Law,  a  clever  Scotch  financier  who  was  doing  business  in 
the  French  capital,  got  himself  appointed  (1717)  president  of  a 
grand  stock  company  to  work  these  gold  mines  and  develop  the 
resources  of  Louisiana.  Law  proposed  to  pay  off  the  French 
national  debt  of  $500,000,000  out  of  the  profits  of  this  gigantic 
undertaking.  All  Paris  was  seized  with  a  mad  fever  of  specula 
tion.  When  the  bubble  burst  thousands  of  Frenchmen  cursed 
the  day  when  they  first  heard  the  name  of  Louisiana.  But  Law's 


SOUTH 

AMERICA 


THE  LOUISIANA  COUNTRY  CLAIMED  BY  LA  SALLE  FOR  FRANCE    /  •    fr  3* 


144        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1689-1720 

scheme  had  one  good  result :  Bienville,  a  brother  of  Iberville, 
had  been  appointed  commander  general  of  Louisiana,  and  in 
1718  he  made  a  clearing  in  the  canebrakes  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  and  there  founded  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 

Henceforth  New  Orleans  controlled  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
That  immense  stream,  with  its  tributaries,  drains  the  largest  agri 
cultural  valley  on  the  globe,  having  an  area  greater  than  that  of 
central  Europe,  and  capable  of  producing  grain  enough  to  feed 
all  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  and  America. 

161.  The  French  in   the  north   and   the  west;   French  forts. 
The   French  had  also  been   active  at    the  north;    late  in  the 
seventeenth  century  (1695)  they  settled  Kaskaskia,  in  Illinois. 
Captain  Duluth  had  built  a  fort  on  the  northern  shore  of  Lake 
Superior,  had  "visited  the  spot  where  the  city  since  named  for 
him  stands,"  and  had  explored  much  farther  west.     He  advised 
building  a  fort  on  the  straits  connecting  Lake  Erie  with  Lake 
Huron.    The  French  acted  on  that  suggestion  and  founded  (1701) 
the  fortified  post  of  Detroit.     A  little  later  (1702),  they  built  a 
fort  at  Vincennes,  the  oldest  town  in  Indiana. 

In  1720  the  French  built  Fort  Chartres,  on  the  Mississippi,  in 
southern  Illinois.  It  was  one  of  the  most  formidable  strongholds 
on  the  continent  and  formed  one  more  link  in  that  chain  of  forti 
fications  which  Louis  XIV  was  extending  from  Quebec  to  New 
Orleans.  By  means  of  those  forts  France  intended  to  make  good 
her  claim  to  the  country  west  of  the  Alleghenies  when  the  great 
final  struggle  for  the  mastery  should  come  with  the  English. 

162.  War  between  the  French  and  the  English;    Frontenac's 
plans  ;  attacks  on  Schenectady  and  Haverhill ;  the  English  colonists 
attack  Canada.     The  war  (known  as  King  William's  War)  had, 
in  fact,  already  begun  in  the  Old  World  between  England  and 
France  (§  100),  and  Frontenac  (§  66)  simply  opened  the  American 
side  (1689—1697)  of  the  terrible  contest.     It  was  a  struggle  for 
religious  as  well  as  for  political  supremacy,  and  Catholics  and 
Protestants  were  arrayed  against  each  other.     Frontenac  intended 
to  seize  New  York  and  drive  the  inhabitants  into  the  wilderness. 


1690-1713]     ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS       145 

This  plan  failed,  but  he  sent  a  party  of  French  and  Indians  (1690), 
who  fell  upon  the  little  Dutch  settlement  of  Schenectady  and 
destroyed  it.  They  also  burned  the  hamlet  of  Haverhill  in  Mas 
sachusetts  and  made  the  mistake  of  carrying  off  Mrs.  Hannah 
Dustin.  She  managed  to  kill  her  captors  while  they  slept,  and 
proved,  by  the  bundle  of  Indian  scalps  which  she  took  home,  that 
she  could  beat  the  savages  at  their  own  game. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Jacob  Leisler,  governor  of  New  York 
(§  67),  an  attack  on  Canada  was  planned.  Sir  William  Phips  of 
Maine  took  the  French  fort  at  Port  Royal,  Acadia  (now  Nova 
Scotia),  and  stripped  the  place  bare,  bringing  away  even  the 
governor's  silver  spoons  and  his  new  dress  wigs. 

In  a  later  expedition  against  Quebec  Phips  was  repulsed,  and 
the  "pinch  of  famine"  forced  a  disastrous  retreat.  His  men 
clamored  for  their  pay,  and  Massachusetts,  having  no  coin  to 
give  them,  issued  her  first  paper  money  (,£40,000)  in  order  to 
settle  the  demand.  That  colony  had  now  to  shoulder  the  burden 
of  a  heavy  debt,  with  nothing  to  pay  it  but  paper  currency, 
which  soon  fell  to  half  its  face  value. 

163.  Queen  Anne's  War  ;  Indian  attacks  ;  Port  Royal,  Quebec  ; 
King  George's  War ;  Louisburg  taken.  In  the  second  or  Queen 
Anne's  War  (1702-1713)  the  French  and  Indians  swept  the 
coast  of  Maine  from  Casco  to  Wells.  The  next  winter  they 
burned  Deerfield,  Massachusetts,  and  carried  away  most  of  the 
inhabitants  into  captivity.  On  the  other  hand,  an  expedition 
sailed  from  Boston  (1710)  and  took  permanent  possession  of 
Port  Royal,  which  was  henceforth  called  Annapolis  in  honor  of 
the  reigning  queen  of  England. 

The  next  summer  (1711)  a  combined  force  of  English  troops 
and  colonists  was  sent  against  Quebec.  Eight  ships  of  the  squad 
ron  were  wrecked  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  nearly  nine  hundred 
men  were  lost.  A  council  of  war  voted  not  to  proceed  farther. 
When  peace  was  made  (1713)  Great  Britain  kept  Annapolis, 
obtained  full  possession  of  Hudson's  Bay,  Newfoundland,  and 
Acadia,  which  now  received  the  name  of  Nova  Scotia. 


146        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1744-1754 


The  third  or  King  George's  War  (1744-1748)  was  marked 
by  a  splendid  victory.  The  French  fortress  of  Louisburg  on  Cape 
Breton  Island  guarded  the  entrance  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  Colonel 
William  Pepperrell  of  Maine  led  (1745)  a  secret  expedition  against 
this  stronghold,  which,  with  its  walls  of  solid  masonry  twenty  feet 
high,  seemed  to  defy  attack. 

New  England,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania  contributed  men, 
artillery,  and  provisions  for  the  expedition.  Aided  by  a  small 
English  fleet,  the  little  army  of  fishermen,  lumbermen,  and  far 
mers  besieged  the  fortress  for  six  weeks.  Meanwhile  the  people  of 
Boston  were  holding  weekly  prayer  meetings  in  behalf  of  the  des 
perate  enterprise.  The  commander  of  the  fortress  was  unfit  for 
his  place,  and  his  garrison  was  mutinous.  The  fort  fell  and  the 
news  of  this  victory  filled  New  England  with  joy.  George  II 
was  so  delighted  that  he  made  the  American  commander  a  bar 
onet,  with  the  title  of  Sir  William  Pepperrell,  an  honor  never 
before  conferred  on  one  of  our  countrymen. 

When  peace  was  made  (1748)  the  fortress  was  restored  to 
France;  but  its  former  fame  was  gone.  The  "Yankees"  had 
mastered  those  proud  walls  which  the  French  king  once  boasted 
no  power  on  earth  could  take. 

164.  The  French  and  Indian  War;  Canada  and  the  English 
colonies  compared ;  the  Ohio  country.  The  fourth  and  last  or 
French  and  Indian  War  (1754-1763)  marks  the  culmination 
of  the  struggle  between  France  and  England  for  the  possession 
of  America.  Hitherto  New  England  and  New  York  had  borne 
the  brunt  of  the  contest,  but  now  the  whole  country  as  far  south 
as  Virginia  was  threatened  by  the  advance  of  the  French  toward 
the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  The  English  colonies  had  a  population 
more  than  ten  times  greater  than  that  of  Canada,  but  the  Cana 
dians  were  ruled  by  a  despotic  king  who  could  and  would  force 
every  man  into  the  army. 

As  early  as  1716  Governor  Spotswood  of  Virginia  (§  137)  had 
seen  the  importance  of  securing  the  rich  country  beyond  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  had  urged  the  English  government  to  occupy  the 


1748-1754]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS       147 

valley  of  the  Ohio.  But  it  was  more  than  thirty  years  later  before 
any  decided  action  was  taken.  Then  (1748)  Lawrence  Washing 
ton,  an  elder  brother  of  George  Washington,  united  with  a  number 
of  influential  Virginians  in  organizing  the  Ohio  Company. 

This  Company  obtained  from  the  king  a  grant  of  five  hundred 
thousand  acres  of  land  on  the  east  bank  of  the  upper  Ohio.  The 
tract  lay  mainly  between  the  Great  Kanawha  and  Monongahela 
rivers,  —  a  region  now  embraced  by  West  Virginia  and  southwest 
Pennsylvania.  The  Company  proposed  to  plant  settlements  in 
the  Ohio  country,  to  speculate  in  western  lands,  and  to  carry  on 
the  fur  trade  with  the  Indians. 

Some  years  later  (1753),  they  opened  a  road  by  Will's  Creek, 
a  branch  of  the  Potomac,  and  made  preparations  to  send  out 
emigrants.  The  French,  through  the  explorations  of  La  Salle 
(§  159),  claimed  the  Ohio  country  as  their  own.  They  resented 
its  occupation  by  the  English  as  an  act  of  trespass,  and  promptly 
built  a  fort  at  Presque  Isle  (Erie)  to  defend  their  rights.  They 
soon  began  a  second  (Fort  Le  Boeuf)  south  of  it,  and  then  a 
third  south  of  that,  at  Venango. 

165.  Washington's  expedition  (1753);  Fort  Duquesne;  the 
skirmish ;  Fort  Necessity.  Governor  Dinwiddie  of  Virginia  sent 
(1753)  Major  George  Washington,  a  young  man  of  twenty-one, 
to  order  the  French  to  leave  the  country.  It  was  a  difficult  and 
perilous  undertaking,  involving  a  winter's  journey  of  nearly  a 
thousand  miles  through  the  wilderness.  Washington  reached 
Venango,  but  the  French  officer  at  that  post  told  him  with  an 
oath  that  the  English  should  never  have  the  Ohio ;  and  the 
commander  at  Fort  Le  Boeuf  gave  him  the  same  answer. 

On  his  way  through  the  forests  Washington  stopped  at  the 
point  where  the  waters  of  the  Allegheny  and  the  Monongahela 
unite  to  form  the  Ohio.  "  I  spent  some  time,"  said  he,  "  in 
viewing  the  rivers,  and  the  land  in  the  fork,  which  I  think 
extremely  well  situated  for  a  fort."  He  reported  the  military 
importance  of  the  position  to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  and  the 
governor  sent  (1754)  a  party  of  men  to  erect  a  fort  at  that 


148          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1754 

"  Gateway  of  the  West."  The  French  swooped  down  upon  the 
party,  drove  them  off,  and  began  to  build  a  stronghold  which  they 
named  Fort  Duquesne. 

A  little  later,  a  detachment  of  French  soldiers  from  Fort 
Duquesne  encountered  Washington  at  the  head  of  a  small  party 
of  Virginians.  The  young  man  at  once  gave  the  command  to 
fire.  It  was  the  first  shot  in  a  war  destined  to  determine  the 
fate  of  France  in  the  New  World.  The  victory  of  the  Virginians 
foretold  the  final  triumph  of  the  English  in  the  great  struggle. 

Colonel  Washington  now  hastily  built  the  stockade  of  Fort 
Necessity.  Here  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1754,  a  strong  body 
of  French  forced  him  to  surrender.  Just  twenty-one  years  from 
that  date,  lacking  a  single  day,  Washington  took  command  of  the 
Continental  army  which  was  to  win  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

1 66.  The  Albany  Congress  (1754) ;  Franklin's  plan  of  confed 
eration.  The  colonists  now  felt  the  need  of  united  action.  A 
congress  was  called  at  Albany  (1754),  to  which  New  York,  Penn 
sylvania,  Maryland,  and  the  four  New  England  colonies  sent  dele 
gates.  Representative  warriors  of  the  Iroquois  or  Six  Nations 
met  with  the  congress. 

Franklin,  who  was  editing  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  had  al 
ready  made  vigorous  appeals  in  favor  of  union.  He  had  empha 
sized  the  divided  and  helpless  state  of  the  colonies  by  a  rude 
woodcut  representing  a  snake  cut  in  pieces,  with  the  motto,  "Join 
or  die."  He  proposed  that  the  colonies  should  form  a  confed 
eration1  under  the  government  of  a  president  to  be  appointed 
and  supported  by  the  crown,  and  a  council  chosen  by  the  colonial 
assemblies. 

The  congress  unanimously  accepted  Franklin's  plan,  but  the 
colonial  assemblies  and  the  crown  rejected  it.  The  assemblies 
refused  it  because  they  thought  it  gave  too  much  power  to  the 
king;  the  king,  because  he  considered  that  it  gave  too  much 
power  to  the  people.  Even  then  reflecting  men  in  England 
"dreaded  American  union  as  the  keystone  of  independence." 
1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  52. 


1755]          ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS         149 


Braddock's  Road 


167.  Preparations   for   Braddock's   campaign.    The    next  year 
(1755)  England  sent  over  General  Braddock  to  Virginia  to  lead 
an  army  of  British  regulars  against  the  French.     Braddock  was 
a  veteran  soldier,  boastful  and 

brave,  and  accustomed  to  do  ev 
erything  with  the  cut-and-dried 
precision  of  European  military 
methods.  He  despised  back 
woods  men,  and  backwoods  ways 
of  fighting. 

The  plan  of  the  campaign  was 
to  attack  the  French  simultane 
ously  at  four  important  points, 
—  Fort  Duquesne,  Fort  Niagara, 
Crown  Point  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  and  Fort  Beausejour  in  the 
Acadian  country  at  the  head  of 
the  Bay  of  Fundy  (§  163).  If 
successful,  these  movements 
would  drive  the  French  back  to 
Canada. 

168.  Braddock's   expedition ; 
Washington ;  the  expulsion  of  the 
Acadians.    Early  in  June  (1755) 
Braddock  set  out   accompanied 
by    Colonel   Washington   and   a 
body  of  Virginians,  all  eager  to 
fight  for   "the  best    of   kings." 
Braddock   advanced    from    Fort 
Cumberland  at  the  base  of  the 
Alleghenies,  and  began  to  climb 
the  rough  ridges  of  the  mountains. 

the  van  to  clear  the  way.  Behind  them  came  the  British  regu 
lars,  a  glittering  array  of  scarlet  and  steel.  The  distance  to  Fort 
Duquesne  was  about  a  hundred  and  thirty  miles.  The  progress 


BRADDOCK'S  MARCH 
Three  hundred  axmen  led 


150          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1765 

of  the  army  was  so  slow  that  after  a  month's  march  they  were  still 
five  miles  from  their  destination.  Up  to  this  point  all  had  gone 
well,  when  suddenly  the  English  advance  was  greeted  with  a  ter 
rific  Indian  war  whoop  and  was  fired  upon  by  an  unseen  foe.1 

Braddock  fell,  mortally  wounded,  and  the  British  regulars  "  ran 
like  sheep  pursued  by  dogs."  The  Virginians  with  Washington 
at  their  head  were  the  only  men  on  the  English  side  who  did 
any  successful  fighting.  Braddock  had  lost  more  than  half  of 
his  army.  Washington  saved  what  was  left.  This  disastrous 
defeat  of  the  British  troops  had  one  good  result :  it  inspired  the 
Virginians  with  confidence  in  their  own  methods  of  fighting,  and 
it  led  at  once  to  the  creation  of  a  military  organization  for  the 
defense  of  the  colony. 

The  attack  on  Fort  Niagara  was  given  up,  but  the  attack  on 
Crown  Point  and  that  on  Fort  Beause'jour  were  completely  suc 
cessful.  Then  came  the  question  what  action  should  be  taken 
respecting  the  Acadians,  who,  by  conquest,  were  subjects  of  the 
king  of  England  (§  163).  They  were  called  "  French  neutrals  "  ; 
but  at  Beause'jour  no  less  than  three  hundred  of  these  "neutrals  " 
had  been  found  fighting  on  the  side  of  France. 

The  British  authorities  suspected  that  the  whole  French  pop 
ulation  of  Nova  Scotia  was  secretly  hostile  to  King  George. 
They  now  urged  the  Acadians  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  English  sovereign ;  nine  tenths  of  them  refused.  Then  the 
English  determined  to  banish  them  from  the  country.  The  un 
suspecting  people  were  called  together  in  their  parish  churches 
and  suddenly  made  prisoners.  They  were  then  hurried  on  board 
British  transports  and  carried  off  to  be  distributed  throughout 
the  colonies  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  The  whole  number  thus 
kidnapped  was  between  six  and  seven  thousand.  It  was  a  terrible 
act,  but  apparently  not  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,  and  even 
France  did  not  remonstrate.2 

169.  Pitt  and  victory.  The  French  and  Indian  War  had  now 
been  going  on  for  more  than  three  years,  but  the  English  could 

1  See  Parkman's  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  I,  ch.  vii.  2  Ibid.,  I,  ch.  viii. 


1757-1759]     ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS       151 


show  no  adequate  results.  Then  (1757)  the  elder  William  Pitt 
entered  the  English  cabinet ;  he  soon  became  the  directing  power 
of  the  British  government.  He  grasped  the  helm  with  a  master's 
hand.  He  had  faith  in  America  and  called  on  the  colonists  to 
furnish  twenty  thousand  men  for  a  vigorous  campaign.  Pitt 
inspired  the  army  with  his  own  enthusiasm.  He  sent  (i758)  a 
strong  force  which  recaptured  Louisburg  (§  163),  and  the  famous 
fort  was  dismantled  and  destroyed. 

Colonel  George  Washington  planned  the  line  of  march  of  an 
expedition  of  seven  thousand  men  against  Fort  Duquesne  (1758); 
the  French  commander,  having  but  a  feeble  garrison,  blew  up  the 
fort  and  fled.  A  new 
structure,  a  part  of 
which  is  still  stand 
ing,  was  built  on  the 
ruins  of  the  French 
stronghold.  It  was 
named  Fort  Pitt  in 
honor  of  the  great 
statesman  whose 
genius  had  made 


THE  SIEGE  OF  QUEBEC,  1759 


the  war  a  success.  A  settlement  sprang  up  around  this  military 
post  which  has  since  grown  into  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  the  largest 
iron  manufacturing  center  in  the  world. 

Sir  William  Johnson  of  Johnson  Hall,  New  York,  led  his  Iroquois 
"braves"  against  Fort  Niagara  and  took  it.  Ticonderoga  and 
Crown  Point  fell,  and  so  throughout  the  east  the  French  were 
driven  back  to  Canada. 

170.  Wolfe  takes  Quebec  (1759).  The  next  move  made  by  the 
English  was  on  Canada  itself.  Montcalm,  one  of  the  bravest  and 
noblest  of  French  soldiers,  held  the  world-renowned  fortress  of 
Quebec.  General  Wolfe,  the  young  English  officer  who  had 
stormed  the  batteries  of  Louisburg  (1758),  led  the  British  forces 
against  the  French  stronghold.  He  besieged  the  place  for  nearly 
three  months  (1759),  but  without  avail.  Out  of  his  army  of  less 


152         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1759-1763 

than  nine  thousand  men 'he  had  lost  nearly  a  thousand  in  des 
perate  assaults  on  the  works.  He  had  fretted  himself  into  a  fever, 
and  began  to  doubt  whether  he  would  win  the  day. 

Finally,  the  English  commander  determined  to  make  an  attempt 
to  scale  the  heights  above  the  town.  On  a  starlight  night  in 
September  (1759)  Wolfe  landed  five  thousand  men  on  the  north 
shore  of  the  river  at  the  little  cove  which  he  himself  had  dis 
covered,  and  which  is  now  called  by  his  name. 

Feeling  their  way  in  the  darkness,  the  soldiers  seized  hold  of 
projections  of  the  rocks,  branches  of  trees,  and  bushes,  and  so 
noiselessly  climbed  up  the  almost  perpendicular  heights.  When 
they  reached  the  top,  they  reformed  and  marched  silently  on 
until  they  came  to  the  Plains  of  Abraham  outside  the  walls  of 
Upper  Quebec.  There  at  dawn  the  French  discovered  them. 
There  the  decisive  battle  was  fought.  Both  generals  fell,  mor-. 
tally  wounded.  Wolfe  lay  bleeding  on  the  ground,  supported 
by  an  officer.  "  They  run  !  they  run  !  "  exclaimed  the  officer. 
"Who  run?"  asked  Wolfe.  "The  French,"  was  the  reply. 
The  English  commander  gave  a  final  order,  and  then  exclaimed 
with  his  last  breath,  "  Now  God  be  praised,  I  die  in  peace." 

Montcalm  also  lay  dying.  When  told  by  the  surgeon  that  he 
could  not  survive  more  than  ten  or  twelve  hours,  he  said  :  "  So 
much  the  better ;  I  shall  not  live  to  see  the  surrender  of  Quebec."  l 

The  fall  of  the  capital  of  Canada  really  ended  the  war.  It 
left  the  English  in  possession  of  everything  which  they  had  fought 
to  gain,  though  peace  was  not  formally  declared  until  1763. 

171.  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac  (1763).  Four  years  later  (1763), 
Pontiac,  chief  of  a  Michigan  tribe,  led  a  revolt  of  the  savages  liv 
ing  in  the  vicinity  of  the  upper  lakes.  The  chief  was  friendly  to 
the  French,  and  he  believed  that  with  their  help  he  could  drive 
the  English  from  the  West. 

It  was  the  most  formidable  and  widespread  plot  ever  devised 
by  an  Indian  brain.  Pontiac  hoped  to  unite  all  of  the  savage 
tribes  west  of  the  Alleghenies  in  a  general  movement  against  the 

1  See  Parkman's  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  II,  ch.  xxvii. 


\ 


1763-J        ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         153 

colonies.  The  uprising  met  with  such  success  that  out  of  twelve 
military  posts  the  Indians  took  eight  and  massacred  their  garri 
sons.  In  the  whole  West  only  the  forts  at  Detroit,  Niagara,  and 
Pittsburg  held  out  against  the  savages.  The  final  battle  was 
fought  under  the  walls  of  Detroit  (1763).  Two  years  later  (1765), 
Pontiac  was  forced  to  beg  for  peace.  It  was  the  last  general 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  western  tribes  to  drive  out  the  Eng 
lish  settlers  until,  nearly  half  a  century  later,  Tecumseh  stirred 
up  his  famous  revolt  (iSn).1 

172.  Results  of  the  struggle  between  England  and  France  for 
the  possession  of  America  (1689-1763).  By  the  Treaty  of  Paris  2 
(1763),  France,  ceded 
to  England  all  of  her 
American  possessions 
east  of  the  Mississippi 
(and  north  of  the  West 
Indies)  except  two 
small  islands  off  the 
coast  of  Newfound 
land  which  Great  Brit 
ain  permitted  her  to 
keep  "as  shelter  to  her 
fishermen."  By  a  secret 
treaty  (1762),  France 
had  transferred  New  NoRTH  AMERICA  AFTER  THE  TREATY  OF  '763 
Orleans  to  Spain,  and  with  that  city  all  of  her  lands  west  of  the 
Mississippi ;  of  her  former  magnificent  domain  on  the  North 
American  continent  she  now  had  not  even  a  foothold  left. 

Spain,  in  return  for  the  restoration  of  Cuba,  had  ceded  (1762) 
Florida  to  England  (ceded  back  to  Spain  in  1783).  At  the  close 
of  1763  England  held  the  whole  continent  east  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  from  the  frozen  shores  of  the  Polar  Sea  to  the  coral  reefs 
of  Florida,  while  Spain  had  her  grasp  on  all  the  country  west  of 
the  great  river  to  the  Pacific. 

1  See  Parkman's  Pontiac.        2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  54. 


154          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1763 

By  a  proclamation l  issued  by  George  III  (1763)  the  lands  west 
of  the  Alleghenies  were  reserved  for  the  Indians.  The  intention 
of  this  royal  mandate  was  to  completely  shut  out  the  English  set 
tlers  in  America  from  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
king's  object  was  to  prevent  conflicts  with  the  tribes  west  of  the 
Alleghenies  and  at  the  same  time  to  confine  the  colonists  to  a 
narrow  area  which  could  be  readily  controlled  by  Great  Britain. 

But  England  paid  a  heavy  price  for  the  vast  territory  she  had 
wrested  from  France.  The  expense  of  the  war  (in  Europe  and 
America)  doubled  the  English  national  debt,  raising  it  from 
^"70,000,000  to  ^"140,000,000.  The  British  taxpayers  pro 
tested  loudly  against  further  outlay;  but  further  outlay  seemed 
an  absolute  necessity. 

The  crown  declared  that  a  standing  army  of  at  least  ten  thou 
sand  men  must  be  sent  to  America.  This  force  was  to  hold 
Canada  and  the  Ohio  Valley,  otherwise  the.  French  and  the 
Indians  might  rise  and  get  back  all  that  they  had  lost. 

In  order  to  obtain  money  to  pay  this  army,  England  resolved  to 
impose  a  direct  tax  on  the  colonies,  although  they,  had  furnished 
more  than  twenty  thousand  men  (§  169)  and  incurred  a  debt 
of  ^"2,600,000  in  a  war  undertaken  "in  behalf  of  the  mother 
country."  2  England  paid  part  of  this  debt,  but  the  king  insisted 
on  a  tax  for  the  future.  Burke  said  that  this  last  demand  was  the 
origin  of  the  quarrel  between  the  colonists  and  the  mother-country. 

If,  then,  one  result  of  the  French  war  was  to  extend  enor 
mously  the  area  of  the  American  possessions  held  by  England,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  expense  of  that  contest  forced  the  king  to 
adopt  a  policy  which  roused  the  resistance  of  the  colonists.  At 
the  same  time  his  refusal  to  permit  emigration  to  the  rich  lands 
of  the  West  increased  the  feeling  of  irritation.  George  III  held 
stubbornly  to  this  new  policy,  and  relentlessly  pushed  it,  until 
finally  the  Americans  rose  and  fought  the  War  for  Independence. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  55. 

2  See  Doyle's  Essay  on  the  American  Colonies,  130 ;  Bigelow's  Franklin's  Works, 
III,  414- 


THE  KING'S  PROCLAMATION  LINE,  1763 


155 


156          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1763 

•GENERAL   VlEW    OF   THE    THIRTEEN    COLONIES  IN    1/63   l 

173.  Settlement  and  population.  In  1763  the  population  of 
the  thirteen  colonies  was  not  far  from  1,800,000,  or  less  than  half 
that  of  New  York  City  to-day.  Of  this  population  somewhat 
more  than  300,000  were  slaves.  These  slaves  were  distributed 
throughout  the  colonies,  but  the  number  held  north  of  "  Mason 
and  Dixon's  Line  "  (§  145)  was  comparatively  very  small.  The 
three  largest  cities  were  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston ; 
but  none  of  them  had  a  population  exceeding  30,000. 

The  original  charters  were  often  loosely  drawn  as  respects 
geographical  lines,  and  this  led  to  much  confusion  and  dispute 
(§§  106,  145).  But  by  virtue  of  those  which  ran  from  "sea  to 
sea"  six  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  under  the  treaty  of  1763 
(§  172),  claimed  the  Mississippi  for  their  western  boundary  line 
(see  maps  on  p.  35  and  facing  p.  226).  New  York  made  a  similar 
claim  on  the  ground  of  purchase  of  lands  north  of  the  Ohio  from 
the  Six  Nations  (§32). 

The  great  majority  of  the  people  lived  along  the  Atlantic 
coast.  Each  colony  had,  as  a  rule,  its  own  seaports,  and  was, 
therefore,  commercially  independent  of  the  others ;  west  of  the 
Alleghenies  the  whole  country  was  almost  an  unbroken  wilder 
ness,  although  some  adventurous  pioneers  had  pushed  into  that 
region  and  made  a  few  clearings  in  the  forests.  But  further 
movement  in  that  direction  was  prohibited  by  royal  proclamation 

(§172). 

In  New  England  a  large  proportion  of  the  people  had  gathered 
in  towns  which  had  grown  up  around  the  parish  meeting-house 
and  the  schoolhouse.  Independent  of  all  questions  of  trade,  the 
religious  societies  of  these  colonies  would  have  kept  them  com 
pactly  together.  In  the  middle  colonies  the  towns  likewise  em 
braced  a  majority  of  the  population ;  but  owing  perhaps  to  the 
fact  that  the  Indians  of  that  section  were  generally  friendly, 

1  See  Thwaites'  Colonies,  ch.  xiv;  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union,  ch.  vii ;  Lodge's 
Colonies ;  Fisher's  Colonial  Era ;  Thorpe's  Constitutional  History,  I,  ch.  ii-iv. 


1763]  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS        157 

there  were  more  scattered  settlements  than  in  New  England,  and 
in  some  cases  they  extended  farther  westward.  . 

At  the  South  the  tobacco  and  rice  plantations  did  not  favor  the 
growth  of  compact  settlements.  Jefferson  humorously  declared, 
"  The  law  has  said  that  there  shall  be  towns,  but  nature  has  said 
there  shall  not."  Generally  speaking,  the  colonists  lived  apart 
from  each  other.1  Charleston,  Baltimore,  and  Savannah  were  the 
principal  southern  cities,  and  of  these  the  first  only  had  a  popu 
lation  exceeding  5000. 

A  large  majority  of  the  people,  especially  in  New  England  and 
Virginia,  were  of  pure  English  descent.  In  the  middle  colonies, 
especially  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  there  were  a  good 
many  Germans  and  Dutch,  besides  some  Swedes  and  Scotch. 
South  Carolina  had  an  influential  Huguenot  (§  135)  element, 
and  probably  most  of  the  colonies,  if  not  indeed  all,  had  more 
or  less  of  the  same  class,  with  some  Irish  and  a  few  Jews ;  as  for 
the  Scotch-Irish  (§  52),  they  or  their  descendants  could  be  found 
in  varying  numbers  everywhere.  It  is  estimated  that  about  one 
fifth  of  the  population  of  the  thirteen  colonies  had  some  other 
language  than  English  for  their  mother  tongue.  Collectively  the 
people  called  themselves  Americans. 

Owing  to  the  immense  immigration  which  has  since  taken  place, 
not  much  more  than  half  of  our  present  population  can  claim 
English  as  their  native  language.2  Furthermore,  statistics  seem 
to  show  that  the  birth  rate  among  native  Americans,  especially  in 
New  England,  has  fallen  off  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  doubtful 
if  they  will  continue  to  hold  their  own. 

174.  Government  of  the  colonies.  Three  forms  of  government 
werey  in  force  in  the  colonies  in  1763,  namely,  government  by 
charter  (Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island),  by  Pro 
prietaries  (Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland),  and  by  the 
crown  in  the  seven  remaining  provinces.  The  general  supervision 
of  the  colonies  was  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  trade,  popularly 

1  On  the  effect  of  this  isolation  see  Mace's  Method  in  History,  83. 

2  See  Wright's  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States,  15. 


158         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1763 

called  the  "  Lords  of  Trade."  This  board,  appointed  by  the  king 
(1696),  had  its  .headquarters  in  London.  It  required  annual 
reports  from  the  colonial  governors  in  America  concerning  the 
general  condition  and  growth  of  their  respective  provinces. 

No  other  colonists  in  the  world  enjoyed  the  political  liberty 
which  England  granted  to  her  subjects  in  America.  The  Spanish 
and  French  governments  on  this  continent  were  practically  mili 
tary  despotisms,  and  the  settlers  in  Mexico,  Florida,  and  Canada 
had  no  voice  whatever  in  making  laws,  electing  officers,  or  levy 
ing  taxes.  Holland  indeed  was  disposed  to  treat  her  provinces 
in  a  more  liberal  spirit,  but  still  she  gave  them  far  less  than 
England  gave  hers. 

Two  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island, 
elected  their  governors  and  their  legislatures;  they  were  repub 
lics  in  everything  but  name.  In  the  remaining  eleven  colonies, 
though  the  king  or  the  Proprietaries  appointed  the  governors, 
yet  the  people  elected  the  members  of  the  Assembly. 

These  eleven  governors,  who  were  in  most  cases  Englishmen 
sent  over  by  the  king,  were  clothed  with  the  following  powers  : 
(i)  they  commanded  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  their 
respective  colonies ;  (2)  they  chose  the  members  of  the  council 
or  upper  house  of  Legislature ;  (3)  they  made  grants  of  lands  and 
collected  land  rents ;  (4)  they  granted  pardons ;  (5)  they  assem 
bled  and  dissolved  the  Legislature,  and  (except  in  Pennsylvania) 
they  could  permanently  veto  any  legislative  bill. 

The  colonial  legislatures  had  three  most  important  powers : 
(i)  they  (with  the  governor's  consent)  enacted  the  laws,  which, 
however,  were  not  to  be  repugnant  to  those  of  England,  and 
which  were  subject  to  the  king's  veto ;  (2)  they  levied  all  gen 
eral  taxes;  (3)  they  fixed  the  amount  of  the  governor's  salary, 
and  also  the  salaries  of  the  judges  (until  1761)  and  other  leading 
officers.  This  power  over  the  purse  gave  the  legislatures  the 
virtual  control  of  the  government,  and  as  the  lower  house  was 
made  up  entirely  of  representatives  elected  by  the  people,  it, 
made  them  the  real  rulers. 


1763]  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         159 

In  all  the  colonies  the  right  to  vote  was  limited  to  persons 
possessed  of  a  certain  amount  of  property.  In  all  of  the  colo 
nies,  except  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  Catholics  were  excluded 
from  the  polls,  though  it  is  denied  that  this  law  was  enforced  in 
Rhode  Island  (§126).  By  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  right  to  vote  appears  to  have  been  restricted,  in  all  of  the 
colonies,  to  Protestants.1  The  restriction  of  suffrage  to  property 
holders  cut  off  a  large  per  cent  of  the  adult  male  population 
from  any  voice  in  the  direct  management  of  public  affairs  and 
imbued  the  government  with  an  aristocratic  spirit.  In  Rhode 
Island  this  state  of  things  eventually  led  to  what  is  known  as 
the  Dorr  Rebellion  (1842).  An  order  of  Queen  Anne's  (1702), 
enforcing  the  Test  Act,  shut  out  all  persons  not  Protestants  from 
holding  any  public  orifice  in  the  colonies. 

The  common  law  of  England  was  also  the  common  law  of  the 
colonies ;  but  it  was  modified  by  acts  of  the  legislatures. 

In  Massachusetts,  and  generally  throughout  New  England, 
each  town  managed  its  local  affairs  by  a  meeting  held  once  a 
year.  At  such  meetings  the  people  voted  for  town  officers,  for 
the  building  and  repair  of  roads,  the  care  of  the  poor,  and  the 
support  of  churches  and  schools.  This  system  made  New  Eng 
land  a  collection  of  "  village  republics  "  in  which  all  gradation  of 
power  was  from  the  people  upward  (§  88). 

In  Virginia,  and  generally  throughout  the  South,  the  manage 
ment  of  local  affairs,  such  as  the  building  and  repair  of  roads 
and  the  levying  of  taxes  for  such  purposes,  was  under  the  con 
trol  of  certain  county  officers  appointed  by  the  governor;  so 
that  in  the  South  the  gradation  of  power  was  from  the  governor 
downward  (§  43).  Each  parish,  however,  was  managed  by  a  com 
mittee  (§50),  composed  usually  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  (the  only  Church  there  established  by  law). 
These  committees,  which  were  practically  self- elective,  and  hence 
close  corporations,  provided  for  the  maintenance  of  public  worship 
and  looked  after  the  poor. 

1  See  Professor  Stille  in  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  IX,  374. 


160          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1763 

In  the  middle  colonies  a  mixed  system  of  town  and  county 
government  prevailed,  the  people  of  the  towns  electing  one  or 
more  of  the  county  officers. 

175.  Courts  of  justice;  laws  of  inheritance.  Except  in  the 
three  proprietary  colonies  (Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  Dela 
ware)  and  in  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  the  crown,  directly 
or  indirectly,  appointed  the  judges  of  the  superior  courts.  They 
held  their  office,  not  during  good  behavior,  as  in  England,  but 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  royal  governor  or  of  his  master  the 
king.  For  this  reason  the  judges  naturally  felt  themselves  bound 
to  maintain  the  interests  of  the  crown ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
up  to  1761  they  were  constantly  reminded  by  the  assemblies 
that  their  salaries  depended  on  the  good  will  of  the  people  who 
paid  them.  After  1761  the  salaries  of  the  judges  were  paid  out 
of  the  king's  land  rents,  and  so  the  judges  were  freed  from  all 
responsibility  to  the  people. 

The  vice-admiralty  courts,  which  were  established  to  deal  with 
maritime  cases,  were  especially  obnoxious  to  the  mercantile  com 
munity.  It  was  the  duty  of  these  courts  to  enforce  the  Naviga 
tion  Acts  (§§  48,  102,  177),  the  laws  of  trade  (§  177),  and  to 
punish  smuggling.  The  cases  were  tried  not  by  jury  but  by  a 
bench  of  judges.  The  severity  of  their  sentences  made  them 
especially  unpopular  with  merchants  and  shipowners. 

If  England  discriminated  by  her  Navigation  Acts  against  her 
American  colonies,  on  the  other  hand  the  colonists  were  not  slow 
to  retaliate.  By  the  laws  of  Maryland  (i  704),  an  Englishman  emi 
grating  to  that  country  could  not  hold  office  until  after  residence 
for  a  term  of  years ;  a  similar  law  existed  in  other  colonies. 

In  Massachusetts  British  merchants  did  not  enjoy  the  same 
privileges  as  colonists.  Throughout  America  colonial  creditors 
had  a  prior  claim  over  English  creditors  in  the  collection  of  debts. 

The  laws  and  customs  relating  to  the  inheritance  of  real  estate 
had  an  important  influence  on  the  condition  of  society.  In  Vir 
ginia,  Maryland,  and  New  York  property  passed  to  the  eldest  son 
as  in  England.  This  system  naturally  tended  to  keep  up  the 


1763]         ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS          l6l 

family  name  and  position,  and  to  establish  a  permanent  landed 
aristocracy.  Later  (1776),  Jefferson's  attacks  completely  demol 
ished  this  system  in  Virginia.  In  New  England  the  property  was 
divided  among  all  the  children,  but  the  eldest  son  usually  received 
a  double  share. 

The  movement  toward  equal  division  eventually  triumphed 
in  all  of  the  colonies.  Daniel  Webster  said  that  these  changes 
helped  to  lay  the  material  basis  of  republican  government. 

176.  Conflicting  interests  of  the  colonies;  slavery;  the  "  poor 
whites."  Though  the  thirteen  colonies  were  practically  one  in 
modes  of  government  and  in  religion,  and  though  the  English 
race  predominated,  yet  conflicting  interests  separated  them  on 
many  points. 

Unquestionably  one  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  to  union  arose 
from  the  fact  that  the  labor  systems  of  the  North  and  the  South 
were  radically  unlike  in  their  tendencies.  The  South  was  almost 
entirely  devoted  to  agriculture  in  its  simplest  form;  the  North, 
while  not  neglecting  agriculture,  was  largely  devoted  to  commerce. 
Both  sections  held  indented  white  servants,  many  of  whom  were 
felons  (§§  42,  44).  Both  sections  too  owned  negroes  who,  as  a 
rule,  were  humanely  treated  and  neither  overworked  nor  under 
fed  ;  but  at  the  South  climate,  soil,  and  productions  fostered  the 
growth  of  slavery  and  made  it  more  and  more  profitable,  while 
at  the  North  all  these  influences  were  against  it. 

The  foreign  slave  trade  was  active ;  it  was  to  a  great  extent  in 
the  hands  of  New  England  men,  and  there  were  merchants  in 
Salem,  Boston,  and  Newport  who  regularly  sent  out  cargoes  of 
trinkets  and  rum  to  Africa  to  exchange  for  shiploads  of  Guinea 
negroes  to  be  sold  at  auction  in  the  South. 

James  I  sent  at  least  a  hundred  convicts  to  Virginia ;  later, 
many  political  prisoners  taken  in  the  civil  wars  were  shipped  as 
slaves  to  America,  most  of  them  probably  to  the  British  West 
Indies.  In  1718  Parliament  enacted  a  law  permitting  convicts  to 
be  transported  to  this  country;  between  that  date  and  1776  large 
numbers  were  sent  over. 


162          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1763 

There  were  also  voluntary  white  immigrants,  called  "  free 
willers "  or  "  redemptioners,"  who  sold  themselves  for  a  short 
term  of  years  to  pay  the  cost  of  their  passage  over.1  They  were 
most  numerous  in  Pennsylvania.  They  were  often  driven  about 
the  country  in  gangs  by  men  called  "  soul  drivers,"  who  disposed 
of  them  to  farmers.  As  late  as  1792  Washington  urged  buying  a 
shipload  of  them  in  Germany  to  work  on  the  public  grounds  and 
public  buildings  of  the  national  capital. 

The  industrial  differences  between  the  North  and  the  South 
were  producing  two  different  types  of  civilization,  and  were  breed 
ing  not  only  antagonism  of  interests  but  bitter  sectional  hatred. 
Thus  the  seeds  of  the  great  conflict  (1861-1865)  were  sown,  and 
were  slowly  maturing  for  the  inevitable  harvest. 

A  movement  against  slavery  began  in  Pennsylvania  (1688),  and 
Judge  Sewall  of  Boston  wrote  a  tract  against  it  (iyoo).2  Wash 
ington,  Jefferson,  and  Franklin  were,  however,  the  first  leading 
men  who  denounced  it  as  a  blight  and  a  curse  (§  45).  The 
people  of  the  South  were  gradually  separated  into  two  classes,  — 
the  few  who  owned  slaves,  and  the  many,  the  "  poor  whites,"  who 
did  not  own  them.  They  could  not  compete  with  negro  labor, 
and  they  were  ashamed  to  try  to  compete  with  it. 

But  the  rich  southern  slaveholders  had  whatever  high-bred 
virtues  naturally  belong  to  an  aristocracy.  When  the  day  of  need 
came,  this  class  furnished  leaders  in  the  cause  of  independence 
who  were  every  whit  as  ardent  as  those  who  sprang  from  New 
England  or  from  the  middle  colonies.  The  so-called  "poor 
whites  "  showed  too  on  the  battlefields  of  the  Revolution,  as  they 
did  nearly  a  hundred  years  later  on  those  of  the  Civil  War,  that 
they  were  not  "  poor  "  in  courage,  fortitude,  or  self-denial. 

177.  Colonial  industries;  commerce;  manufactures;  currency. 
Down  to  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  wages  were 
quite  generally  regulated  by  law,  and  two  shillings  seems  to  have 
been  the  usual  pay  for  a  day's  work. 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  II,  No.  107. 

2  Ibid.,  II,  Nos.  102,  103,  106. 


1763]          ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS          163 

The  great  staples  of  the  South  were  tobacco,  rice,  indigo,  and 
the  products  of  the  pine  forests  of  North  Carolina.  Pennsylvania 
exported  iron ;  New  York  carried  on  a  large  trade  in  furs.  New 
England  was  actively  engaged  in  whaling  and  codfishing,  and  in 
distilling  rum  from  West  India  molasses.  A  gilt  figure  of  a  cod 
fish  still  hangs  in  the  chamber  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  the  statehouse  in  Boston.  Like  the  sack  of  wool  in  the  Eng 
lish  House  of  Lords,  it  is  an  honorable  emblem  of  what  was  once 
a  chief  source  of  the  wealth  of  Massachusetts. 

Shipbuilding  had  long  been  carried  on  in  New  England  and 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  English  shipbuilders  complained  with  good 
reason  that  America  was  driving  their  vessels  from  the  ocean. 
Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  (1713),  Captain  Andrew  Robinson 
of  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  launched  the  first  schooner,  —  a  type 
of  vessel  which  has  since  come  into  use  throughout  the  world. 

The  commerce  of  the  colonies  in  "  nonenumerated  articles  " 
(§  48),  such  as  grain,  salted  provisions,  fish,  rum,  and  timber, 
grew  steadily.  New  England  had  a  fleet  of  between  five  and  six 
hundred  sailing  craft  employed  in  the  West  Indian  and  other 
foreign  trade.  Beside  their  lawful  commerce  the  colonies  carried 
on  smuggling  systematically  and  almost  openly  until  George  III 
came  to  the  throne.  Then  the  crown  undertook,  with  more  or 
less  "success,  to  enforce  the  Navigation  Acts  (.§48).  In  1733 
Parliament  passed  a  Molasses  Act 1  which  practically  prohibited 
trade  with  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies.  This  was  done 
to  protect  the  "  Sugar  Islands  "  of  the  British  West  Indies  against 
foreign  competition.  The  law,  however,  was  never  really  enforced. 
In  1764  Parliament  reenacted  it,  in  a  modified  form,  with  a  com 
paratively  low  rate  of  duty,  under  the  name  of  the  Sugar  Act.'2 
The  object  of  the  new  law  was  to  raise  a  revenue  from  the  colonies. 
It  was  the  first  direct  tax  which  England  imposed  on  her  Ameri 
can  possessions.  The  attempt  to  collect  this  duty  (which  was  cut 
down  still  further  in  1766)  led  to  conflicts  with  the  customs  offi 
cers.  But,  nevertheless,  American  trade  continued  to  increase. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  50.  2  ibid.,  No.  56. 


164         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1763 

Large  as  our  exports  were,  our  imports  from  Great  Britain 
were  nearly  twice  as  great,  and  Lord  Chatham  said  in  Parliament, 
"America  is  the  fountain  of  our  wealth,  the  nerve  of  our  strength." 
He  declared  that  Great  Britain  made  a  profit  of  ^£2,000,000  a 
year  out  of  her  American  trade. 

Aside  from  the  production  of  certain  classes  of  coarse  goods, 
there  were  few  manufactures  in  the  colonies.  The  first  fulling 
mill  appears  to  have  been  set  up  by  John  Pearson  in  1643  m 
Rowley,  Massachusetts.  England,  acting  on  the  protective  prin 
ciple,  checked  the  growth  of  colonial  manufactures  by  all  sorts  of 
vexatious  legislation  in  order  that  she  might  keep  the  monopoly 
of  supply  for  her  own  merchants.  Parliament  (1699)  prohibited 
the  export  of  American  wool  or  woolen  goods  to  any  other 
country  or  from  one  colony  to  another. 

The  House  of  Commons  resolved  (1719)  that  "  the  erecting 
manufactories  in  the  colonies  tended  to  lessen  their  dependence." 
Later  (1750-1765),  Parliament  forbade  the  colonies  to  make 
ironware  of  any  kind,  and  the  erection  of  any  new  iron  furnaces 
and  iron  mills  in  Pennsylvania  or  elsewhere  was  prohibited  as 
a  "nuisance."  Again,  although  America  was  the  home  of  the 
beaver,  yet  Parliament  passed  a  law  (1732)  forbidding  the  colo 
nists  to  export  beaver  hats  to  England,  to  any  foreign  country, 
or  even  from  one  colony  to  another.1  But  tyrannical  as  these 
trade  restrictions  now  seem,  they  were  far  less  severe  than  those 
imposed  by  other  European  countries  on  their  colonies.  Even  Pitt. 
America's  best  friend  in  Parliament,  upheld  this  policy,  although 
he  denied  the  right  of  direct  taxation  of  the  colonists  (§  190). 

Such  goods  as  the  colonists  were  permitted  to  produce  were 
made  largely  by  hand,  although  horse  power,  wind  power,  and 
water  power  were  used  to  some  extent.  Steam  as  a  manufacturing 
agent  was  still  unknown  in  the  world,  and  the  first  steam  engine 


1  See  Lecky's  History  of  England,  III,  325  ;  Weeden's  Economic  History  of  New 
England,  I,  388;  II,  722  ;  Bancroft's  United  States  (last  revised  edition),  II,  81 ;  III, 
107-108,  240;  Hildreth's  United  States,  II,  213,  352,  431;  Johns  Hopkins  Univer 
sity  Studies,  X,  547,  574. 


TORTSMOUT 


1763]          ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         165 

in  America  was  not  set  up  until  about  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

The  need  of  a  sound  currency  was  sorely  felt  in  all  of  the  colo 
nies.  In  Virginia  tobacco  had  served  for  money  for  a  time,  but 
unfortunately  it  was  subject  to  sudden  and  violent  fluctuations 
in  value  according  as  the  price  abroad  rose  and  fell.  In  New 
England,  and  in  some  of  the  other  colonies,  wampum  (§  29)  had 
long  been  in  use,  and  did  excellent  service  in  trade  with  the 
Indians.  Corn  and  cattle  were  also  used  for  currency,  and  one  stu 
dent  at  Harvard  College  paid  his  tuition  bill  with  "  an  old  cow."  ] 
Massachusetts,  indeed,  ventured  to  set  up  a  mint  and  strike  off 
debased  silver  coins  and  coppers,  but  long  before  1763  this  mint 
had  been  suppressed.  Most  of  the  specie  that  came  into  the 
country  consisted  of  Spanish  dollars  brought  from  the  West 
Indies  in  exchange  for  exports,  together  with  some  English  gold 
and  silver ;  but  this  specie  soon  found  its  way  into  the  pockets 
of  the  London  merchants. 

This  constant  drain  of  gold  and  silver  out  of  the  colonies  natu 
rally  compelled  them  to  undertake  the  issue  of  paper  money. 
Most  of  this  proved  utterly  worthless.  The  English  Board  of 
Trade  (§  174)  instructed  the  royal  colonial  governors  to  veto  the 
bills  which  the  legislatures  enacted  for  the  issue  of  this  irredeem 
able  paper  money,  and  the  quarrels  to  which  these  vetoes  gave 
rise  were  one  cause  leading  to  the  Revolution. 

178.  Roads  ;  travel ;  the  post  office.  Owing  to  the  very  general 
lack  of  good  roads  the  chief  part  of  the  transportation  was,  when 
practicable,  by  water.  Large  quantities  of  furs  and  freight  of  all 
kinds  were  carried  in  canoes  on  the  rivers  and  lakes.  New  York  in 
particular  offered  great  facilities  in  this  respect.  Where  rivers  were 
not  available  for  reaching  the  interior,  pack  horses  were  employed. 
They  carried  the  goods  in  long  bags  slung  across  their  backs. 

The  roads  were  frequently  simply  Indian  trails ;  in  other  cases 
there  was  no  path  at  all,  and  the  way  through  the  trackless  forests 
was  indicated  by  blazed  trees ;  bridges  were  almost  unknown. 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  18-21. 


166         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1763 

Pennsylvania  was  one  of  the  few  colonies  which  had  a  number  of 
fairly  good  roads ;  they  radiated  from  Philadelphia.  Thousands 
of  huge  wagons  carried  produce  to  that  busy  port,  which  had 
an  export  trade  of  more  than  ,£700,000  a  year.  Boston  (1763) 
ranked  next  in  this  respect. 

There  was  but  little  passenger  travel,  —  so  little,  in  fact,  that 
it  was  not  very  uncommon  for  a  man  to  make  his  will  when  he 
ventured  to  go  any  distance  from  home.  The  usual  mode  of 
travel  between  the  principal  cities,  such  as  Boston,  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  and  Charleston,  was  by  sailing  vessels.  The  time 
required  for  making  such  a  journey  was  as  uncertain  as  the  wind. 
Not  infrequently  men  preferred  to  go  on  horseback  to  avoid  vex 
atious  delays.  If  a  wife  went  with  her  husband  on  one  of  these 
journeys,  she  usually  rode  behind  him  on  a  pillion. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  colonial  period  a  line  of  rude  stage 
wagons  was  put  on  the  route  (1756)  between  Philadelphia  and 
New  York.  They  made  trips  once  a  week.  Their  average  speed 
was  usually  rather  less  than  three  miles  an  hour ;  but  as  the  roads 
were  rough  and  the  wagons  had  no  springs,  the  passengers  prob 
ably  seldom  begged  to  go  faster.  Later  (1766),  some  enterprising 
individual  put  a  new  stage  on  the  route.  He  advertised  it  as 
the  "Flying  Machine";  under  favorable  circumstances  it  flew 
at  a  speed  of  perhaps  five  miles  an  hour. 

The  first  post  office  in  the  colonies  was  not  established  until 
1710,  or  more  than  a  century  after  the  settlement  of  Virginia. 
The  mails  were  scanty.  They  were  generally  carried  on  horse 
back.  The  rates  of  postage  for  a  single  letter  ranged,  in  modern 
currency,  from  eight  to  twenty-five  cents,  according  to  distance. 
When  Benjamin  Franklin  was  appointed  postmaster-general 
(J753)  ne  startled  the  good  people  of  Philadelphia  by  putting 
on  a  regular  weekly  mail  between  that  city  and  Boston ;  there 
was  no  postal  service  between  Boston  and  inland  towns  before 
the  Revolution. 

179.  Religion ;  freedom  of  worship ;  the  press.  In  the  South 
the  Episcopal  Church,  the  Established  Church  of  all  the  royal 


To  the   P  U  B  L  1  C. 

THE  FLYING  MACHINE,  kept  by 
John  Mercereau,  at   the  New-  Blazing-Star-  Ferry, 
near  New-  York,  fets  off  from  Powles-Hook  every    Mon 
day,  Wednefday,  and  Friday  Mornings,  for  Philadelphia,. 
and  performs  the  Journey  in  a  Day   and  a  Half,  for  the 
Summer  Seafon,  till  the  iftof  November;  from  that  Time 
logo  twice   a   Week    till    the  fir/i    of  May,  when   they 
again  perform  it  three  Times  a  Week.     When  the  Stages 
go  only  twice  a  Week,  they  fet  off  Mondays   andThurf- 
days.     The  Waggons  in  Philadelphia   fet   out  from   the 
Sign  of  the  George,   in  Second-  flreet,  the  fame  Morning. 
The  Paffengers  are  defired  to  crofsthe  Ferry  the  Evening 
before,  as  the  Stages  mufl  fet  off  early  the  next  Morning. 
The  Price  for  each  Paffenger  is  Jiuenly  Shillings  ;  Proc.*and 
Goods  as  ufual.     Paffengers  going  Part  of  the  Way  to  pay 
in  Proportion. 

As  the  Proprietor  has  made  iuch  Improvements  upon 
the  Machines,  one  of  which  is  in  Imitation  of  a  Coach, 
he  hopes  to  merit  the  Favour  of  the  Publick. 

JOHN  MERCEREAU. 


1JJ1. 

FLYING    MACHINE 

*  "  Proc."  :   Proclamation-money  or  lawful  money  according  to  the  proclamation 
of  Queen  Anne  in  1704. 


1763]         ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          167 

colonies,  was  the  most  influential ;  but  numerically  the  Pres 
byterians  were  strong,  and  together  with  the  Congregationalists 
were  constantly  growing  stronger.  In  Pennsylvania  the  Quakers 
and  the  German  Lutherans  predominated.  In  the  remaining 
middle  colonies  Episcopacy  was  maintained  by  law,  but  other 
denominations  were  tolerated.  Maryland  had  by  far  the  great 
est  number  of  Catholics.  Yet  even  there  they  did  not  constitute 
more  than  a  small  per  cent  of  the  population. 

In  Massachusetts  Episcopacy  was  encouraged  by  the  royal  gov 
ernor,  who  attended  the  "  King's  Chapel  "  in  Boston.  The  dread 
lest  the  crown  should  appoint  an  Episcopal  bishop  may  be  con 
sidered  as  one  of  the  causes  which  operated  in  Massachusetts 
to  bring  on  the  Revolution.  In  Rhode  Island  the  Baptists  had 
become  a  controlling  power.  A  few  Methodists  had  settled  in 
New  York,  but  no  preachers  of  that  denomination  arrived  until 
several  years  later  (1769).  The  following  year  (1770)  a  Univer- 
salist  minister  began  to  form  two  or  three  societies  of  that  faith. 
The  first  Congregational  churches  of  Massachusetts  were  based 
not  on  a  creed,  but  on  a  "  covenant "  or  bond  of  fellowship 
(§§  82,  86)  ;  these  religious  societies  with  very  few  exceptions 
eventually  became  Unitarian  in  their  faith,  though  this  form  of 
belief  was  not  formally  organized  in  Boston  until  after  the  close 
of  the  Revolution  (1785).  In  Massachusetts  the  compulsory 
support  of  public  Congregational  worship  was  not  abolished  until 
many  years  later  (1833).  The  social  lines  drawn  in  the  churches 
made  them  essentially  aristocratic,  and  the  seats  were  allotted 
according  to  the  standing  of  the  occupants  in  the  community. 

The  only  colony  which  openly  tolerated  entire  freedom  of 
worship  by  legislative  enactment  was  Rhode  Island.  In  Virginia, 
where  all  property  holders  were  taxed  to  support  the  established 
Episcopal  Church,  no  other  faith  was  legally  recognized. 

In  western  Virginia  there  were  many  dissenters,  mostly  Presby 
terians.  They  were  permitted  to  organize  and  maintain  churches 
of  their  own  on  condition  that  they  made  certain  concessions  to 
the  Established  (Episcopal)  Church.  Jefferson  secured  (1776) 


168          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1763 

partial  toleration,  and  eventually  (1785)  his  influence  obtained 
the  passage  of  the  famous  act  granting  entire  religious  freedom. 

In  all  of  the  colonies,  except  Rhode  Island,  laws  existed  which 
forbade  Catholics  from  holding  public  worship ;  but  in  Pennsyl 
vania  the  law  was  not  enforced,  and  as  early  as  1734  a  Catholic 
church  —  the  first  outside  of  the  original  church  of  Maryland  — 
was  erected  in  Philadelphia.1 

That  art  which  has  been  truly  said  to  be  "  preservative  of  all 
arts  "  was  first  introduced  into  the  colonies  by  the  establishment 
of  a  printing  press  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  1639.  For 
forty  years  it  remained  the  only  press  in  British  America.  The 
next  press  outside  of  Massachusetts  was  permanently  set  up  at 
Philadelphia  (1686),  and  the  next  at  New  York  (1693).  No 
printing  could  be  done  except  by  special  license,  although  most 
of  the  restrictions  were  removed  by  1755. 

The  first  permanent  newspaper  established  in  the  colonies  was 
the  Boston  News  Letter,  which  made  its  appearance  in  1704. 
It  was  printed  weekly,  and  consisted  of  half  a  sheet  of  coarse, 
dingy  paper  about  the  size  of  a  child's  pocket  handkerchief. 
The  first  attempt  made  by  any  newspaper  to  discuss  public  affairs 
was  when  James  Franklin  (1723)  criticised  the  action  of  the  Mas 
sachusetts  authorities  in  his  New  England  Courant.  It  was  in 
certain  respects  the  forerunner  of  the  poorest  class  of  modern 
sensational  dailies,  differing  from  them  mainly  because  its  lim 
ited  circulation  greatly  restricted  its  demoralizing  and  destructive 
power.  Its  publication  was  stopped  by  the  authorities. 

Peter  Zenger,  the  publisher  of  the  New  York  Weekly  Jour 
nal,  first  succeeded  (1734)  in  establishing  the  right  (§  69)  of 
a  newspaper  to  censure  acts  of  the  government.  He  thus  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  absolute  liberty  of  the  press  which  was 
finally  recognized  after  the  Revolution.2 

1 80.  Literature  and  education.  Up  to  1763  very  few  American 
books  of  note  had  been  published.  Wealthy  men  imported  the 

1  See  Prof.  Stille,  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  IX,  375,  and  Hildreth's  United  States, 
II,  343.  '2  See  Thomas'  History  of  Printing  in  America  (1874). 


1763]         ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          169 

standard  English  authors,  but  in  New  England  sermons  by  the 
Puritan  ministers  formed  a  large  part  of  the  solid  reading  in  that 
section. 

The  most  remarkable  production  in  verse  was  the  Reverend 
Michael  Wigglesworth's  "  Day  of  Doom."  It  was  a  realistic 
description  of  the  "  Great  and  Last  Judgment,"  and  especially  of 
the  unutterable  torments  of  lost  souls.  For  a  hundred  years 
after  its  publication  in  Boston  (1662),  no  other  book  commanded 
a  sale  equal  to  it.  Peddlers  hawked  it  from  house  to  house,  and 
little  children  learned  it  by  heart  along  with  their  catechism. 
As  late  as  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  were  men 
and  women  living  who  had  read  and  re-read  the  lurid  pages  of 
this  poem  by  the  flickering  light  of  a  New  England  fireside 
until  every  line  seemed  to  have  been  burnt  into  their  memories, 
and  they  could  repeat  the  whole  of  the  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  verses  word  by  word. 

In  prose  we  have  Cotton  Mather's  "Magnalia"  (1702).  It 
was  a  huge  folio  narrating  the  church  history  of  New  England, 
and  was  by  far  the  most  important  book  of  the  kind  published 
in  that  period.  Later,  there  appeared  Dummer's  "  Defence  of 
the  New  England  Charters"  (1728),  a  vigorously  written  pam 
phlet,  which  was  followed  by  a  multitude  of  others  discussing 
and  defending  the  rights  of  the  colonists.  The  most  noteworthy 
southern  contributions  to  American  literature  were  Beverly's 
"History  of  Virginia"  (1705),  followed  by  Stith's  history  of  the 
same  colony  (1747). 

The  two  master  writers  of  the  period  were  Benjamin  Franklin 
and  Jonathan  Edwards.  Edwards  was  a  Puritan  minister  of  the 
strictest  sort ;  Franklin  was  a  man  of  the  world,  an  independent 
thinker,  who  hired  no  one  to  guess  for  him  about  anything. 
In  1732,  while  editing  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  a  paper  which 
he  printed  with  his  own  hands,  he  began  the  publication  of  an 
almanac  popularly  known  as  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanac." 

He  scattered  through  his  almanac  maxims  which  preached  the 
gospel  of  thrift,  self-help,  and  manly  independence.  These  pithy 


THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1763 

sayings  of  "Poor  Richard"  had  a  wide  influence.  They  were 
reprinted  on  sheets  (1754)  under  the  title  of  "The  Way  to 
Wealth,"  and  framed  and  hung  up  in  houses  and  shops.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  they  did  much  towards  shaping  American 
life  when,  as  an  eminent  English  statesman  said,  it  was  "  in  the 
gristle  and  not  yet  hardened  into  the  bone  of  manhood." 

Later,  Franklin  wrote  numerous  political  pamphlets  and  scien 
tific  papers;  several  of  the  former  had  a  decided  bearing  on 
questions  relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  colonies  and  the  need 
of  union  and  of  self-defense.1 

Jonathan  Edwards  was  a  country  minister  settled  in  North 
ampton,  and  later  in  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  man 
of  deep  religious  convictions,  of  vigorous  intellect,  and  of  noble 
purpose. 

His  preaching  expressed  the  same  feeling  as  that  which  found 
utterance  in  the  "  Day  of  Doom."  It  was  largely  an  appeal  to 
fear,  and  it  gave  rise  to  that  remarkable  revival  (1740)  called  the 
"  Great  Awakening."  That  movement  shook  New  England  like 
an  earthquake,  and  made  itself  felt  as  far  south  as  Virginia.  It 
called  into  existence  a  great  number  of  independent  exhorters 
and  preachers ;  they  broke  up  many  of  the  old  parishes  in  Mas 
sachusetts  and  Connecticut  into  opposite  factions  known  as  the 
"  Old  Lights  "  and  the  "  New  Lights."  This  led  to  the  forma 
tion  of  societies  holding  views  of  their  own.  These  new  socie 
ties,  in  a  number  of  cases,  withdrew  from  the  more  rigid  Puritan 
organization,  and  so,  in  the  end,  helped  to  bring  about  the  sepa 
ration  of  Church  and  State. 

later  (1754),  Edwards  published  his  great  work  on  the  "  Free 
dom  of  the  Will"  ;  his  object  was  to  show  that  there  is  no  true 
and  permanent  liberty  save  that  which  springs  from  right  doing, 
and  that  the  power  to  do  right  comes  only  from  above.  His 
book  was  destined  to  have  a  profound  influence  on  that  small 
number  of  thinkers  whose  thoughts  influence  the  world. 

1  See  Tyler's  History  of  American  Literature  (1607-1765);  The  Cambridge 
United  States,  chapter  on  American  Literature  by  Professor  Barrett  Wendell. 


1763]  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS         171 

By  1763  the  common-school  system  of  New  England  had  been 
in  existence  for  more  than  a  century  (§  93),  but  even  in  Massa 
chusetts  such  schools  were  not,  as  a  rule,  fully  maintained  by 
public  taxation  until  1827,  or  nearly  fifty  years  after  the  country 
had  gained  its  independence  as  a  nation.  Twelve  years  later 
(1839),  the  first  normal  school  in  the  United  States  was  estab 
lished  at  Lexington,  Massachusetts. 

This  system  did  not  (1763)  extend  south  of  Connecticut; 
numerous  schools,  however,  existed  in  New  Jersey  and  in  New 
York,  and  Pennsylvania  was  noted  for  its  "  log  colleges."  1 

In  Virginia  and  throughout  the  South  there  was  no  system  of 
public  instruction.  Governor  Berkeley,  speaking  of  the  "Old 
Dominion"  (1671),  said:  "I  thank  God  there  are  no  free 
schools,  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  [them]  these 
hundred  years ;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience  and  heresy 
and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged  them,  and 
libels  against  the  best  government.  God  keep  us  from  both." 

Yet  Governor  Berkeley  was  not  an  enemy  to  higher  education, 
for  he  subscribed  for  the  founding  of  "  a  college  of  students  of 
the  liberal  arts  and  sciences."  What  he  feared  was  a  democratic 
system  of  free  instruction,  such  as  he  believed  would  tend  to 
undermine  the  authority  of  Church  and  King. 

The  wealthy  planters  not  infrequently  employed  classical  tutors 
for  their  eldest  sons,  the  heirs  of  their  estates,  or  sent  them  to 
the  college  of  William  and  Mary  or  to  the  mother-country  to  be 
educated.  Augustine  Washington  sent  his  eldest  son  Lawrence 
to  England  for  that  purpose,  but  placed  his  younger  son  George 
in  a  little  school  kept  by  the  sexton  of  the  parish,  where  the 
lad  was  duly  taught  to  read,  write,  and  cipher.  A  large  number 
of  the  "  poor  whites  "  never  had  an  opportunity  to  acquire  even 
these  rudiments  of  learning.  They  got  their  education  from 
things,  not  from  books. 

1  See  Boone's  Education  in  the  United  States ;  Martin's  Evolution  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Public  School  System;  Hinsdale's  Documents  of  American  Educational 
History. 


1/2          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          ["63 

By  1763  six  colleges  had  been  established  in  the  colonies. 
They  were  Harvard  (1636),  William  and  Mary  (1693),  Yale 
(1701),  Princeton  (1746),  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  (1753), 
and  Columbia  (1754);  a  seventh,  Brown  University,  soon  after 
ward  came  into  existence  (1764). 

181.  Science  and  art;  discoveries  and  inventions.  In  art  we 
had  two  noted  painters,  Copley  and  West.  The  latter  had  been 
painting  portraits  in  Philadelphia  at  five  guineas  a  head,  but  went 
to  Italy  before  the  close  of  1763.  Copley  was  painting  in  Boston, 
and  John  Hancock  and  his  friend  Samuel  Adams  were  soon  to 
sit  for  their  portraits,  both  of  which  now  hang  in  the  Boston  Art 
Museum. 

Copley  was  painting  a  picture  in  London  when  (1782)  the 
news  was  received  of  the  acknowledgment  of  American  inde 
pendence  by  Great  Britain.  "  With  a  bold  hand  and  a  master's 
touch  "  the  artist  introduced  a  ship  in  the  background  flying  the 
"  stars  and  stripes";  it  was  probably  the  first  American  flag  that 
was  hoisted  in  old  England. 

In  the  field  cf  scientific  discovery  America  had  made  her  mark. 
Franklin  was  engaged  in  his  famous  experiments  with  electricity, 
and  the  leading  scientists  of  France  wrote  to  him,  "  We  are  all 
waiting  with  the  greatest  eagerness  to  hear  from  you."  They  did 
not  wait  in  vain,  for  Franklin,  by  the  use  of  nothing  more  remark 
able  than  a  boy's  kite,  succeeded  (1751)  in  establishing  the  fact 
that  the  electricity  produced  by  friction,  and  the  lightning  of  the 
thunderclouds  are  one  and  the  same  thing.  That  was  the  begin 
ning  of  the  wonderful  development  which,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly 
a  century,  has  since  taken  place,  and  is  now  rapidly  advancing. 
The  lightning  rod  was  the  first  step  in  that  practical  knowledge 
of  electricity  which  has  since  given  us  the  telegraph  and  telephone, 
and  which  now  provides  the  silent  power  which  lights  houses  and 
streets,  cooks  food,  photographs  invisible  objects,  drives  machinery 
and  automobiles,  propels  and  heats  cars,  signals  the  approach  of 
trains,  rings  fire  alarms,  and  threatens  in  time  to  drive  steam 
entirely  into  the  background. 


1763]          ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS         173 

Another  name  destined  to  take  high  rank  in  the  history  of 
science  was  that  of  Benjamin  Thompson  (Count  Rumford),  then 
a  boy  at  school  in  his  native  town  of  Woburn,  Massachusetts. 
In  his  researches  many  years  later  he  discovered  that  heat  is  a 
mode  of  motion,  and  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  modern  doc 
trine  of  the  correlation  of  forces. 

182.  Mode  of  life.1  Throughout  the  colonies  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  lived  in  the  utmost  simplicity.  The  farmhouses  were 
generally  built  of  logs,  or  of  rough,  unpainted  clapboards.  The 
cooking  was  done  before  huge  open  wood  fires  or  in  large  brick 
ovens.  The  food  was  generally  coarse  but  abundant.  There  were 
comparatively  few  vegetables,  but  plenty  of  apples  and  cider. 

Salt  pork  was  the  meat  most  commonly  eaten,  but  venison 
and  other  game  were  by  no  means  rare.  Corn  in  the  form  of 
hominy,  mush,  or  hoecake,  and  rye  bread  were  more  generally 
seen  on  the  table  than  bread  made  of  wheat. 

Tallow  candles,  whale-oil  lamps,  and  open  wood  fires  gave 
light  in  the  evening.  Friction  matches  did  not  come  into  use 
until  long  after  the  Revolution,  and  the  only  way  of  kindling  a 
fire  was  to  strike  a  spark  by  a  flint  and  steel,  catch  it  on  some 
tinder,  and  blow  it  to  a  blaze. 

Men  and  women  dressed  chiefly  in  homespun,  which  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  the  farmers  manufactured  in  the  long  winter 
evenings  with  their  spinning  wheels  and  hand  looms. 

In  New  England  Sunday  was  kept  very  strictly ;  every  one  was 
expected  to  attend  church,  and  all  travel  or  labor,  except  in  cases 
of  absolute  necessity,  was  forbidden. 

In  all  of  the  colonies  lawbreakers  were  summarily  and  sharply 

dealt  with.     Ordinary  offenders  were  put  in  the  stocks,  exposed 

on  the  pillory,  or  publicly  whipped,  much  to  the  edification  of  the 

bystanders.    Serious  crimes  were  punished  by  imprisonment  or  by 

the  gallows,  and  hangings  took  place  where  all  could  witness  them. 

In  and  near  the  cities  there  were  occasional  fine  mansions. 

Some  of    these,  such  as  the  Longfellow  House    in  Cambridge, 

l  See  Earle's  Home  Life  in  Colonial  Days. 


1/4         THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1763 

Massachusetts,  the  Van  Rensselaer  Manor  House  at  Greenbush, 
New  York,  the  Carrollton  House  near  Baltimore,  and  the  Byrd 
House  at  Westover,  near  Richmond,  Virginia,  are  excellent  ex 
amples  of  the  higher  class  of  colonial  architecture. 

The  owners  of  these  houses  frequently  lived  in  a  good  deal  of 
style.  They  imported  French  wines  and  silver  plate  for  their 
tables,  dressed  in  stately  costumes  of  velvet  and  brocade  set  off 
with  ruffles,  and  wore  flowing  wigs  or  powdered  hair. 

Social  lines  were  more  sharply  drawn  than  at  present.  Broadly 
speaking,  to-day  every  inhabitant  of  the  United  States  who  is  not 
a  lady  is  a  gentleman,  but  in  colonial  days  these  names  were 
given,  as  a  rule,  only  to  persons  holding  some  acknowledged 
and  well-defined  social  position.  In  fact,  in  the  colonies,  as  in 
England,  the  aristocratic  spirit  prevailed  to  a  great  extent  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  It  showed  itself  in  the  churches  (§  179),  in 
the  existence  of  slavery  (§  1 76),  in  the  laws  of  inheritance  (§  175), 
in  the  limitations  of  suffrage  (§  174),  and  in  methods  of  govern 
ment  (§  174).  This  point  is  vitally  essential  to  a  correct  under 
standing  of  that  period,  and  its  influence  extended  after  the 
United  States  had  gained  their  independence. 

183.  Indications  of  the  coming  Revolution.  Not  long  before 
the  Revolution  a  marked  change  took  place  in  the  reading  habits 
of  many  of  the  people.  Burke,  in  speaking  of  America  in  1775, 
said,  "  In  no  country  in  the  world  is  the  law  so  general  a  study." 
Not  only  did  the  colonists  import  a  large  number  of  law  books, 
but  they  had  begun  to  publish  them.  It  is  said  that  nearly  as 
many  copies  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries  were  sold  in  America 
as  in  England.  Public  affairs  were  discussed  to  such  an  extent 
that  a  noted  Frenchman  said  of  the  Americans,  "They  are  all 
politicians,  down  to  the  housemaids." 

This  interest  in  public  matters,  joined  to  the  study  of  law,  was 
preparing  the  leaders  of  the  colonists  to  take  a  decided  stand  in 
defense  of  their  rights.  English  statesmen  expressed  their  admi 
ration  for  the  ability  with  which  the  Americans  drew  up  their 
petitions  for  justice  and  their  protests  against  oppression. 


1763]          ENGLISH  AND   FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS          175 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  English  Board  of  Trade  had 
accused  the  Massachusetts  colonists  of  having  "  a  thirst  for  inde 
pendence,"  yet  the  general  feeling  of  all  the  colonies  appears 
to  have  been  loyal  until  a  late  date.  In  a  sermon  on  the  death 
of  George  II  (1760),  the  Reverend  Jonathan  Mayhew  of  Boston 
said  that  the  people  had  regarded  the  late  king  as  a  father 
rather  than  a  sovereign,  and  that  they  hoped  to  sit  "  under  the 
shadow  of  his  successor  with  great  delight."  The  coronation  of 
George  III  was  celebrated  with  all  the  pomp  the  colonists  could 
muster.  They  felt  that  the  glory  of  the  mother-country  was  still 
their  glory,  and  they  rejoiced  "  publicly  on  every  victory  of  the 
English  arms." 

Franklin  testified  before  the  House  of  Commons  that  up  to  the 
passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  (1765)  the  colonists  "were  led  by  a 
thread."  They  had,  he  said,  "  not  only  a  respect,  but  an  affec 
tion  for  Great  Britain."  It  was  natural  that  it  should  be  so,  for 
a  large  proportion  of  the  people  were  of  direct  English  descent. 
The  laws,  the  language,  the  literature,  the  religion  of  America 
were  to  a  great  extent  those  of  England. 

But  if  the  bond  which  united  us  to  the  mother-country  was 
strong,  so  too  was  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  injustice.  In  the 
cordage  of  the  British  navy  a  scarlet  fiber  is  twisted  into  every 
strand  of  rope  to  mark  it ;  so  throughout  the  colonies,  interwoven 
with  the  universal  feeling  of  loyalty,  there  was  this  distinct  and 
unmistakable  determination  to  insist  on  the  same  constitutional 
rights  which  were  granted  to  Englishmen  at  home.  When 
George  III  positively  refused  to  acknowledge  those  rights,  when 
no  petition  however  humble  and  no  protest  however  vehement 
could  move  him,  then  the  American  people  deliberately  took  the 
final  step.  In  this  action  all  the  colonies  were  united,  for  a 
majority  in  all  "wanted  the  same  Revolution." 

184.  Importance  of  the  colonial  period.  The  Revolution  brought 
the  colonial  period  to  a  close.  To  rightly  estimate  it  we  should 
remember  that  in  the  growth  of  a  nation,  as  in  the  growth  of  a 
tree,  the  roots  count  as  much  as  the  top.  Many  events  of  the 


176         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1763] 

first  importance  originated  in  that  period  (1607-1776)  :  (i)  the 
English-speaking  race  got  firm  possession  of  the  Atlantic  coast 
and  extended  their  territory  as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi ;  then, 
too,  emigration  began  to  the  country  beyond  the  Alleghenies ; 
(2)  then  many  local  customs,  laws,  and  institutions  were  estab 
lished  which  must  continue  to  have  great  influence  on  the  wel 
fare  of  the  whole  country ;  (3)  the  leading  industries  of  America 
to-day  were  planted  by  the  early  settlers  and  their  descendants ; 
(4)  they,  too,  first  enunciated  the  great  principle  of  complete 
religious  toleration ;  they  laid  the  foundation  of  our  oldest  col 
leges  and  of  the  public-school  system  of  the  United  States ;  and 
they  established  the  liberty  of  the  press;  (5)  in  that  period,  too, 
the  conception  of  national  independence  was  born  and  a  com 
mittee  was  chosen  to  frame  the  first  constitution  of  the  republic ; 
(6)  as  a  rule,  it  was  a  period  in  which,  as  has  been  said  (§  182), 
the  aristocratic  principle  was  recognized  in  society,  in  religion, 
in  law,  in  the  limitations  of  suffrage,  and  in  the  form  of  gov 
ernment;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  underneath  there 
was  a  slow  but  certain  movement  toward  democracy;  (7)  finally, 
it  was  in  that  period  that  slavery  gained  firm  root  in  the  southern 
half  of  the  republic  and  sowed  the  seeds  of  that  gigantic  war 
which,  in  the  end,  not  only  gave  the  country  a  "  new  birth  of  free 
dom  "  but  led  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  Union  on  a  basis  far 
more  solid  and  sure  than  that  on  which  it  rested  before. 


IV 

THE  REVOLUTION,1  THE  CONSTITUTION2 

(1763-1789) 

For  authorities  for  this  chapter,  see  footnotes  and  the  classified 
list  of  books  in  the  Appendix,  page  xxiv 

185.  The  accession  and  policy  of  George  III.  The  accession 
of  George  III  (1760)  produced  a  great  change  in  political  affairs 
both  in  England  and  in  the  colonies.  The  new  sovereign  was 
well-meaning,  patriotic,  and  conscientious,  but  narrow-minded, 
obstinate,  and  subject  to  attacks  of  mental  derangement.  When 
he  came  to  the  throne  he  found  the  government  in  the  hands  of 
a  few  great  Whig  families.  George  was  determined  to  be  king  in 
fact  as  well  as  in  name.  He  resolved  to  break  down  the  power 
of  the  old  Whig  party,  to  raise  up  a  body  of  men  in  Parliament, 
who  as  the  "  king's  friends  "  would  vote  as  he  should  direct,  and 

1  On  the  Revolution,  see  Winsor's  America,  VI,  ch.  i,  et  seq. ;  Hart's  Formation 
of  the  Union,  ch.  iii,  iv;  Sloane's  The  French  War  and  the  Revolution,  ch.  x-xxx; 
Summary  of  Grievances  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Trevelyan's  American 
Revolution ;  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  X,  No.  xi ;  Franklin's  Causes  of 
American  Discontent;  Bancroft's  United  States;  Hart's  American  History  told  by 
Contemporaries,  II,  Nos.  130-220;  Hildreth's  United  States,  III-IV  ;  Frothingham's 
Rise  of  the  Republic ;  Lecky's  American  Revolution  (Woodburn) ;  Fiske's  Amer 
ican  Revolution  ;  May's  Constitutional  History  of  England,  ch.  i,  xvii ;  Macdonald's 
Select  Charters,  etc.,  and  Select  Documents. 

2  On  the  Articles  of  Confederation  and  the  Constitution,  see  Winsor's  America, 
VII,  ch.  iii-iv;   Schouler's  United  States,  I,  ch.  i-ii ;    McMaster's  United  States, 
I,  436-502;  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union,  ch.  v-vi;  Walker's  Making  of   the 
Nation,  ch.  i-iv;  Elliot's  Debates  on  the  Constitution,  I,  120-338;  The  Federalist; 
Gordy's  Political  Parties  in  the  United  States,  I,  ch.  i-vii;  Woodburn's  Political 
Parties,  ch.  i;  Thorpe's  Constitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  I,  ch.  ii- 
iv;  Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  I,  ch.  i,  ii ;   Hart's 
American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  III,  Nos.  37-41  and  54-75;  Fiske's  Criti 
cal  Period  of  American  History. 

177 


178          THE    STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1760- 

he  also  resolved  to  make  his  own  arbitrary  will  supreme  not  only 
at  home  but  throughout  British  America. 

That  determination  was  vigorously  resisted  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic.  The  struggle  which  ended  triumphantly  for  the 
American  patriots  was  in  truth  part  of  the  same  revolution  which 
was  fought  in  England  by  other  patriots  in  the  halls  of  Parlia 
ment.  In  spirit  Pitt,  Burke,  and  Fox  were  the  allies  of  Franklin, 
Adams,  and  Washington. 

1 86.  The  chief  cause  of  the  American  Revolution ;  protest  of  the 
colonies  against  direct  taxation.  We  have  seen  (§§  70,  102,  127, 
177,  179,  183)  that  many  causes  contributed  to  bring  on  the 
American  Revolution  ;  the  restrictions  on  trade  and  manufactures 
(§§  102,  177)  were  very  prominent  among  these,  but  the  imme 
diate  cause  was  the  king's  determination  to  impose  a  tax  on  the 
colonists  without  their  consent.  The  declared  object  of  that  tax 
was  to  aid  in  maintaining  a  force  of  ten  thousand  British  troops 
in  America  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  an  insurrection  of  the 
conquered  Canadian  French,  and  to  protect  the  colonists  against 
the  western  Indians.  But  the  colonists  replied  that  they  did 
not  stand  in  need  of  this  protection,  since  they  were  now  strong 
enough  to  defend  themselves. 

Lord  Grenville,  the  king's  prime  minister,  held  that  the  colonies 
were  simply  places  of  trade  established  for  the  benefit  of  Great 
Britain.  Adam  Smith,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  celebrated  work  on 
political  economy  (1776),  denounced  this  narrow  view  as  "  fit  only 
for  a  nation  of  shopkeepers."  The  colonists  themselves  generally 
made  a  distinction  between  external  and  internal  taxation.  They 
admitted  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  impose  duties  on  their  im 
ports  and  to  restrict  their  commerce  and  their  manufactures ;  but 
at  the  same  time  they  positively  denied  the  right  of  the  home 
government  to  demand  money  from  them  without  their  consent. 

As  early  as  1624  the  Virginia  Assembly  declared:  "The 
governor  shall  not  lay  any  taxes  .  .  .  upon  the  colony  .  .  .  other 
wise  than  by  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly."1  This, 

1  See  Hening's  Statutes  of  Virginia,  I,  124. 


1761]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        179 

too,  was  the  attitude  of  Massachusetts  (1646)  and  of  Plymouth 
Colony  (167 1).1 

It  is  true  that  the  charter  of  Pennsylvania  (1681)  affirmed  that 
Parliament  might  levy  taxes  on  the  people  of  that  colony  (§  139)  ; 
but  Parliament  never  had  attempted  it,  and  the  feeling  was  that 
no  such  exercise  of  power  would  ever  be  made. 

In  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  the  New  York  Assembly  (1710)  took 
the  same  decided  stand  that  Virginia  had  taken  in  the  previous 
century.  It  voted  that  "  the  levying  of  any  moneys  upon  her 
majesty's  subjects  of  this  colony,  .  .  .  without  consent  in  General 
Assembly,  is  a  grievance  and  a  violation  of  the  people's  property."  ' 
This  utterance  of  New  York  represented  the  general  spirit  of  the 
American  people  when  George  III  came  to  the  throne  (1760). 

187.  Loyalty  of  the  colonies;  Writs  of  Assistance;  the  "Par 
sons'  Case  "  ;  the  Sugar  Act.  Yet  the  loyalty  of  the  colonies  was 
unquestionable  (§  183).  Even  Samuel  Adams,  that  fiery  apostle 
of  independence,  declared  as  late  as  1768  that  nothing  but 
unkind  usage  could  sever  the  ties  which  bound  America  to 
England. 

The  first  decided  symptom  of  a  change  of  feeling  occurred  in 
1761.  That  year  the  king  empowered  the  customhouse  officers 
of  Boston  and  of  other  American  ports  to  make  use  of  Writs  of 
Assistance,3  or  general  warrants,  in  searching  for  smuggled  goods. 
A  few  years  later,  such  writs  were  decided  to  be  unconstitu 
tional  in  England.  As  if  in  anticipation  of  that  decision,  James 
Otis  (1761)  protested  against  their  use  in  the  colonies.  In 
the  course  of  his  flaming  speech  Otis  vehemently  denounced 
"  the  tyranny  of  taxation  without  representation."  Nevertheless 
the  writs  continued  in  use  here  to  some  extent,  and  they  were 
later  legalized  (1767)  by  the  Townshend  Revenue  Act  (§  191). 

The  next  year  (1762)  Patrick  Henry,  in  his  celebrated  speech 
in  the  "  Parsons'  Case,"  boldly  denied  the  right  of  the  king  to 

1  See  Bancroft's  United  States,  I,  308 ;  Plymouth  Laws  (1671). 

2  See  Fisher's  Colonial  Era,  247. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  53. 


180       THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY       [1762 -1765 

set  aside  a  law  passed  by  the  Virginia  Assembly  for  the  general 
good.  These  ringing  utterances  of  Otis  in  the  North  and  of 
Henry  in  the  South  showed  that  both  sections  of  the  country 
were  equally  determined  to  stand  up  for  their  rights. 

In  1764  Parliament  passed  the  Sugar  Act  (§  177)  and  the 
crown  appointed  officers  to  enforce  it.  This  roused  a  vigorous 
resistance  in  New  England,  which  carried  on  a  large  trade  with 
the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies. 

1 88.  The  Stamp  Act  proposed;  effect  on  the  colonies;  the  act 
passes  (1765).  Meanwhile  Lord  Grenville,  the  king's  prime  min 
ister,  was  maturing  a  scheme  for  compelling  the  colonies  to  help 
bear  the  burden  of  maintaining  a  standing  army  of  British  soldiers 
in  America.  His  plan  was  to  impose  a  stamp  tax  similar  to  one 
which  had  been  imposed  in  England.  He  assumed  that  Par 
liament,  as  the  national  council,  really  represented  all  sections 
of  the  British  Empire,  and  therefore  that  it  could  rightfully  levy 
such  a  tax  on  the  colonies. 

Under  this  proposed  act,  stamps  varying  in  value  from  a  half 
penny  to  ten  pounds  were  to  be  affixed  or  impressed  on  all 
deeds,  wills,  policies  of  insurance,  clearance  papers  for  ships, 
on  many  other  legal  and  business  papers,  and  on  periodical  pub 
lications  and  advertisements.  Such  a  law  would  execute  itself. 
It  would  make  it  impossible  for  the  colonists  to  export  pro 
duce,  transfer  property,  collect  debts  through  the  courts,  or  even 
purchase  a  newspaper  or  an  almanac  without  paying  this  tax, 
and  paying  it  in  specie,  when  specie  was  often  very  hard  to 
get  (§  177). 

In  a  conversation  with  Franklin  and  other  colonial  agents  then 
in  London,  Grenville  said  that  he  could  think  of  no  better  way  of 
raising  the  money  needed  by  the  British  government.  "  If,"  said 
he,  "  you  can  tell  of  a  better,  I  will  adopt  it."  Franklin  suggested 
that  it  might  be  well  to  ask  the  colonies  to  raise  the  sum  needed, 
but  admitted  that  he  thought  it  very  doubtful  whether  the  colo 
nial  assemblies  would  agree  as  to  what  proportion  each  should 
contribute. 


1765]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        181 

Grenville  gave  the  colonies  a  year  to  consider  the  matter; 
then  he  called  on  Parliament  to  act.  Burke  raised  his  voice 
against  the  measure.  He  did  not  question  the  right  of  the  pro 
posed  action,  but  he  did  question  its  expediency.  He  said  that 
it  began  to  look  as  though  the  British  government  regarded  the 
colonists  as  pack  horses  made  to  bear  the  burden  first  of  unlim 
ited  commercial  monopoly  and  next  of  unlimited  taxation.  Pitt 
went  further ;  he  boldly  denied  the  right  of  Parliament  to  pass 
the  proposed  law,  and  declared  later  that  it  was  a  scheme  to  take 
the  colonists'  "  money  out  of  their  pockets  without  their  consent." 

The  news  of  the  proposed  law  roused  the  Americans  to  fierce 
indignation.  Otis  denounced  it  at  a  Boston  town  meeting,  and 
the  Assembly  of  New  York  protested  that  if  taxes  should  be  wrung 
from  them  against  their  will,  "life  itself  would  become  intolerable." 
But  despite  all  efforts  the  measure  passed  in  1765. 

189.  Patrick  Henry's  resolutions;  the  Stamp-Act  Congress. 
Virginia  was  the  first  to  resent  the  action  of  Parliament.  Patrick 
Henry  introduced  (1765)  a  series  of  remarkable  resolutions  in 
the  Assembly,  in  which  he  declared  that  no  power  outside  the 
people  of  the  colony  had  any  right  to  impose  taxes  on  them. 
The  Assembly  adopted  and  recorded  the  greater  part  Df  these 
resolutions.1 

Before  the  news  of  Virginia's  defiant  action  reached  the  North, 
Massachusetts  proposed  a  Stamp-Act  Congress.  In  October 
(1765)  delegates  from  nine  colonies  met  in  New  York.  The 
Congress  drew  up  a  Declaration  of  Rights.2  That  declaration 
showed  how  fast  public  opinion  was  moving.  It  did  not  demand 
representation  in  Parliament,  as  Otis  seems  to  have  done ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  affirmed  "  that  the  people  of  these  colonies  are  not, 
and  from  their  local  circumstances  cannot  be,  represented  in  the 
House  of  Commons  in  Great  Britain,  .  .  .  and  that  no  taxes  ever 
have  been,  or  ever  can  be,  constitutionally  imposed  on  them 
except  by  their  respective  legislatures." 

1  See  Tyler's  Patrick  Henry,  62. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  59. 


182       THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [17G5-1767 

190.  The  boycott ;  the  Sons  of  Liberty  ;  Pitt ;  repeal  of  the  act. 

The  leading  merchants  of  the  country  proceeded  to  boycott 
Great  Britain  by  pledging  themselves  to  stop  importing  English 
goods  until  the  obnoxious  act  should  be  repealed.  The  Sons  of 
Liberty  in  New  York  and  elsewhere  took  decided  action.  They 
seized  stocks  of  stamps  and  burned  them,  destroyed  stamp  offices, 
and  forced  stamp  officers  to  resign. 

When  the  news  of  the  reception  of  the  Stamp  Act  reached 
England,  Pitt  rose  from  his  sick  bed  to  defend  the  colonists  in 
Parliament  (§  188).  "I  rejoice,"  said  he,  "that  America  has 
resisted."  1 

Lord  Grenville,  the  prime  minister,  replied  to  Pitt  and  so  did 
Lord  Mansfield.2  Both  contended  that  Parliament  had  the  con 
stitutional  power  to  tax  the  colonies,  which,  they  insisted,  were  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  represented  by  the  House  of  Commons, 
because  that  House,  they  said,  acted  in  the  interests  of  every 
portion  of  the  British  Empire.  But  Grenville  had  reluctantly 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  inexpedient  to  attempt 
to  force  the  people  to  purchase  the  hated  stamps,  and  the  British 
merchants  and  manufacturers,  fearing  that  they  would  lose  the 
American  market  for  their  goods,  besought  Parliament  to  repeal 
the  act.  This  was  done  (1766)  amid  great  rejoicings  in  London. 
But  in  spite  of  Pitt's  vehement  protest  the  "  king's  friends " 
(§  185)  accompanied  the  repeal  by  the  passage  of  a  Declaratory 
Act,8  which  expressly  affirmed  the  right  of  Parliament  "  to  bind 
the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever."  In  America  the  exultation 
of  the  people  over  their  apparent  victory  prevented  their  heeding 
the  ominous  words  of  this  declaration. 

1 91.  The  Townshend  Revenue  Act.  The  next  year  (1767) 
Parliament  passed  the  Townshend  revenue  act 4  to  pay  the  salaries 
of  the  king's  governors  and  judges  in  the  colonies.  It  imposed  a 
duty  on  American  imports  of  paints,  paper,  glass,  and  tea,  and 
legalized  Writs  of  Assistance  (§  187). 

1  See  C.  K.  Adams'  Representative  British  Orations,  1,98,  no.     2  Ibid.,  105,  150 
8  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  60.  *  ibid.,  No.  63. 


1767-1770]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION     183 

The  colonists  generally,  except  Otis,  had  conceded  the  right 
of  the  English  government  to  impose  such  duties,  but  now  John 
Dickinson  of  Pennsylvania  rose  to  remonstrate.  He  attacked 
the  Townshend  Act  in  a  masterful  series  of  twelve  papers 
entitled  "  Letters  from  a  Farmer  in  Pennsylvania."  At  the 
same  time  the  Massachusetts  Assembly,  pushed  on  by  Samuel 
Adams  and  by  Otis,  sent  a  circular  letter,1  drafted  by  Adams,  to 
the  other  colonies,  urging  them  to  employ  all  lawful  means  to 
resist  the  collection  of  the  proposed  duties.  In  retaliation  the 
English  authorities  took  steps  (1769)  to  have  Americans  who 
should  forcibly  resist  acts  of  Parliament  carried  to  England  for 
trial.2 

Under  the  lead  of  George  Washington  the  planters  of  Virginia 
resolved  to  refuse  to  import  goods  from  Great  Britain  until  the 
Townshend  Revenue  Act  should  be  repealed.  The  merchants  of 
New  York,  Boston,  and  other  cities  took  similar  action.  The 
result  was  that  all  of  the  Townshend  Revenue  Act  was  repealed 
(1770),  except  the  clause  levying  a  trifling  duty  on  tea. 

192 .  The  Boston  Massacre  ;  Governor  Tryon  ;  the  destruction  of 
the  "Gaspee."  In  1766  British  troops  had  been  sent  to  New 
York,  but  the  Assembly  refused  to  obey  the  English  Quartering 
Act,8  which  required  that  the  troops  should  be  provided  for  in 
large  measure  at  public  expense.  Parliament  punished  the  refusal 
by  suspending  the  Assembly,4  and  that  body  remained  dissolved 
until  a  newly  elected  house  complied  (1769)  with  England's 
demands.  Meanwhile  several  regiments  of  British  troops  had 
arrived  (1768)  in  Boston.  In  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  citi 
zens,  this  standing  army  was  quartered  in  the  town  itself.  The 
people  believed  that  the  presence  of  such  a  force  was  an  open 
violation  of  their  constitutional  rights  as  English  subjects.  The 
excited  state  of  feeling  then  existing  made  collisions  between 
the  troops  and  the  citizens  inevitable.  A  mob  assailed  (1770) 
a  squad  of  soldiers  in  the  streets,  pelted  them  with  chunks  of 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  65.  3  ibid.,  No.  58. 

2  See  Virginia's  Protest,  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  No.  66.    *  Ibid.,  No.  61. 


184       THE  STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1770-1772 

ice  and  other  missiles,  and  dared  the  "  lobster  backs "  to  fire. 
Finally,  either  in  retaliation  or  in  self-defense,  the  redcoats  did 
fire,  killing  and  wounding  several  persons.  The  soldiers  were 
tried  for  manslaughter;  all  of  them  were  acquitted  except  two, 
who  were  branded  on  the  hand  and  then  liberated.  To  prevent 
further  trouble,  the  British  commander  ordered  the  troops  to  be 
removed  from  the  town  to  an  island  in  the  harbor. 

The  next  year  (1771)  the  exactions  of  Governor  Tryon  of 
North  Carolina  provoked  an  insurrection.  The  battle  of  Ala- 
mance  followed  (§  137),  and  the  governor  hanged  a  number  of 
prisoners  of  war  that  he  had  captured.  These  men  had  taken  up 
arms  to  resist  unjust  taxation,  and  their  memories  were  cherished 
as  those  of  martyrs  to  liberty. 

The  following  year  (1772)  the  British  revenue  cutter  Gaspee, 
while  chasing  a  Providence  vessel,  ran  ashore  on  the  coast  of 
Rhode  Island.  The  commander  of  the  Gaspee,  in  his  search  for 
smugglers,  had  shown  a  zeal  which  "  outran  both  discretion  and 
law."  The  Rhode  Islanders  now  revenged  themselves  for  his  acts 
of  violence  by  burning  the  cutter.  The  British  government 
ordered  the  chief  justice  of  the  colony  to  send  the  offenders  to 
England  for  trial  (§  195),  but  he  refused  to  obey. 

193.  Committees  of  Correspondence  formed.  In  order  to  render 
the  governors  and  judges  of  the  royal  colonies  independent  of 
the  popular  will  and  dependent  on  the  crown,  the  king  now 
resolved  to  pay  those  officers  (at  least  in  Massachusetts)  out  of 
the  English  treasury. 

Samuel  Adams  took  alarm  at  this  act,  which  he  believed  tended 
to  convert  the  government  of  the  province  into  a  "  despotism." 
At  a  town  meeting  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  (1772)  he  moved  the 
appointment  of  a  "  Committee  of  Correspondence  "  to  state  "  the 
rights  of  the  colonists  "  "to  the  several  towns  and  to  the  world." 
The  motion  passed ;  the  statement  was  sent  forth,  and  soon 
every  town  in  Massachusetts  had  appointed  a  similar  committee. 
In  future  it  would  make  little  real  difference  whether  the  gov 
ernor  permitted  the  colonial  Assembly  to  meet  or  not,  since  the 


1773]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        185 

Committees  of  Correspondence  would  always  be  vigilant  in  the 
interests  of  liberty. 

But  the  influence  of  these  organizations  was  not  confined  to 
Massachusetts,  for  the  next  spring  (1773)  Dabney  Carr,  Patrick 
Henry,  and  other  leading  men  in  Virginia  established  the  "  In 
tercolonial  Committee  of  Correspondence."  That  organization 
"  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Union." 

194.  Attempt  to  enforce  the  tea  tax ;  the  Boston  "  Tea  Party." 
Meanwhile  the  British  East  India  Company,  unable  to  find  a 
market  for  its  teas,  begged  Parliament  to  permit  them  to  make 
exports  free  of  duty  to  America,  where  tea  had  long  been  smug 
gled  from  Holland.  The  king  refused;  he  said,  " There  must 
always  be  one  tax  to  keep  up  the  right,  and  as  such  I  approve 
of  the  tea  duty." 

The  actual  duty  on  the  tea  (§  191)  was  trifling,  —  only  three 
pence  a  pound.  But  the  Americans  regarded  the  measure  as  a 
cunning  device  for  establishing  a  precedent  whereby  money  could 
be  extorted  from  them  for  the  support  of  a  standing  army  in  the 
colonies.  They  therefore  resolved  not  to  purchase  a  pound  of 
the  taxed  tea.  The  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston, 
and  Charleston  took  measures  to  prevent  the  landing  or  sale  of 
the  "  pernicious  herb." 

The  first  tea  ships  arrived  at  Boston  in  the  autumn  of  1773. 
The  people  assembled  in  town  meeting  and  urged  Governor 
Hutchinson  to  order  the  immediate  return  of  the  ships  with  their 
cargoes.  The  governor,  as  an  officer  of  the  crown,  refused  to 
take  such  action. 

A  mass  meeting  was  held  in  the  Old  South  Meeting-house  to 
consider  what  final  decision  should  be  taken.  In  the  evening  a 
message  was  received  from  the  governor  declining  to  permit  any 
of  the  tea  ships  to  go  back  until  they  were  unloaded.  Samuel 
Adams  then  rose  and  said,  "  This  meeting  can  do  nothing  more 
to  save  the  country."  His  words  served  as  a  signal  for  imme 
diate  action.  A  war  whoop  was  heard,  and  a  party  of  citizens 
disguised  as  Indians  and  armed  with  hatchets  rushed  down  to 


186        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1773-1774 

the  wharf,  boarded  the  ships,  and  breaking  open  the  chests  of 
tea  emptied  their  contents  into  the  harbor.  The  next  morning  a 
shining  bank  of  tea  leaves  cast  up  by  the  tide  on  the  south  shore 
showed  how  thoroughly  the  "  Mohawks  "  had  done  their  work. 

195.  The  "  four  intolerable  acts."  The  news  of  the  destruction 
of  the  tea  created  a  profound  sensation  in  England.  The  king 
and  Parliament  both  resolved  on  inflicting  summary  punishment 
on  the  rebellious  city.  Four  penal  acts  were  now  passed  (1774) 
in  rapid  succession.  First,  the  Boston  Port  Act1  removed  the 
seat  of  government  to  Salem  and  closed  the  chief  port  of  Massa 
chusetts  to  all  commerce  until  the  citizens  should  pay  for  the 
tea  and  declare  themselves  entirely  submissive  to  the  king. 

Secondly,  the  Regulating  Act2  altered  the  charter"  of  Massa 
chusetts  so  as  to  deprive  the  people  of  a  large  measure  of  their 
political  rights.  It  also  prohibited  the  citizens  from  holding  town 
meetings  for  the  discussion  of  public  affairs. 

Thirdly,  the  Administration  of  Justice  Act3  provided  that  all 
persons  who  should  be  accused  of  committing  murder  in  main 
tenance  of  the  cause  of  king  and  Parliament  (as  in  the  case  of 
the  British  soldiers  in  the  "  Boston  Massacre  ")  should  be  tried 
"  in  some  other  of  his  majesty's  colonies  or  in  Great  Britain  " 
(where,  of  course,  every  influence  would  operate  in  favor  of  their 
acquittal).  Furthermore,  provision  was  made  for  a  more  stringent 
enforcement  of  the  obnoxious  Quartering  Act  (§  192). 

Fourthly,  the  Quebec  Act4  extended  the  boundaries  of  the 
Canadian  province  of  Quebec  so  as  to  embrace  the  territory 
northwest  of  the  Ohio  (excepting  only  such  portion  as  the  colo 
nies  could  prove  they  held  under  royal  grants),  and  virtually 
established  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  that  vast  province. 
The  debates  in  Parliament  show  that  the  object  of  this  act  was 
to  secure  the  allegiance  of  the  French  Catholics  in  Canada  in  the 
approaching  war  and  to  exclude  the  offending  English  colonists 
from  making  settlements  in  the  West. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  68.    2  ibid.,  No.  69. 
*  See  Hildreth's  United  States,  III,  33.  «  Ibid.,  No.  70. 


1774]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        187 

The  king  now  temporarily  removed  Governor  Hutchinson 
(May,  1774)  and  appointed  General  Gage,  commander  in  chief 
of  the  British  forces  on  the  American  continent,  governor  of 
Massachusetts. 

196.  Unity  of  the  colonies ;  the  First  Continental  Congress 
(1774).  When  the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  Port  Act  reached 
Boston,  Massachusetts  sent  an  appeal  for  sympathy  and  help  to 
all  of  her  sister  colonies.  Paul  Revere,  mounted  on  a  swift  horse, 
started  to  carry  this  appeal  to  New  York,  but  before  he  arrived 
there  a  committee  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  composed  mainly  of 
the  mechanics  and  workingmen  of  that  city,  had  recommended 
the  calling  of  a  general  or  continental  congress.  South  Carolina 
expressed  the  feeling  of  the  patriots  of  all  the  colonies  when  she 
said,  "  The  whole  country  must  be  animated  with  one  great  soul, 
and  all  Americans  must  resolve  to  stand  by  one  another,  even 
unto  death." 

The  first  American  or  Continental  Congress  met  in  the  Car 
penters'  Hall  at  Philadelphia  in  the  autumn  of  1774.  It  was 
composed  of  fifty-five  delegates,  representing  all  the  colonies 
except  Georgia,  where  the  Tory  governor  contrived  to  block  the 
way. 

The  Congress,  while  cheerfully  acknowledging  His  Majesty 
George  the  Third  to  be  their  "  rightful  sovereign,"  adopted  (Octo 
ber  14,  1774)  a  Declaration  of  Colonial  Rights.1  The  decla 
ration  admitted  the  authority  of  Parliament  to  enact  measures  for 
the  regulation  of  trade  for  the  mutual  advantage  of  the  mother- 
country  and  of  the  colonies,  but  it  affirmed  (i)  that  inasmuch  as 
the  colonists  could  not  "  properly  be  represented  in  the  British 
Parliament,"  therefore  the  colonial  legislatures  were  entitled  to 
make  all  local  laws  and  levy  all  taxes;  (2)  that  the  colonists 
were  entitled  to  the  common  law  of  England,  and  especially  to 
the  inestimable  privilege  of  trial  by  jury,  and  that  they  had  the 
right  to  hold  public  meetings  for  the  consideration  of  grievances 
and  to  petition  the  king ;  (3)  they  protested  against  the  keeping 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  72. 


1 88          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1775 

of  a  standing  army  in  the  colonies  without  their  consent;  (4) 
finally,  they  condemned  eleven  acts  of  Parliament,  including  the 
tax  on  tea  and  the  "  four  intolerable  acts"  (§  195),  and  declared 
that  Americans  would  never  submit  to  them. 

Congress,  in  its  "olive-branch  petition,"1  humbly  besought  the 
king  "  as  the  loving  father  "  of  his  "  whole  people  "  to  relieve  their 
wrongs.  But  before  sending  that  petition  Congress  signed  the  arti 
cles  of  an  "  American  Association."  2  Those  articles  pledged  the 
colonies  they  represented  not  to  import  or  consume  British  goods, 
and  not  to  export  any  merchandise  or  products  of  the  colonies  to 
Great  Britain  unless  their  wrongs  should  be  redressed. 

In  the  action  of  the  American  people  thus  far  we  may  trace 
three  progressive  steps:  (i)  Otis'  claim  (1761), — no  direct  taxa 
tion  without  representation  in  Parliament  (§  187)  ;  (2)  Declara 
tion  of  the  Stamp- Act  Congress  (i  765), — no  direct  taxation  except 
by  the  colonial  assemblies  (§  189)  ;  (3)  Declaration  of  the  First 
Continental  Congress  (1774),  —  no  legislation  whatever  (save  in 
regard  to  trade  and  commerce  for  mutual  advantage)  except  by 
the  colonial  assemblies. 

197.  Parliament  retaliates ;  action  of  Massachusetts ;  General 
Gage's  expedition.  When  Parliament  met  (1775),  Pitt,  now  Lord 
Chatham,  besought  that  body  to  repeal  the  "four  intolerable 
acts."  He  said,  "You  will  repeal  them,  I  stake  my  reputation 
on  it,  that  you  will  in  the  end  repeal  them."  8  He  was  right ;  but 
the  repeal  came  too  late.  Burke  made  his  famous  speech  urging 
conciliation,4  and  Lord  North,  then  prime  minister,  offered  a  reso 
lution5  to  that  effect,  but  falling  far  short  of  Burke's  demands, 
which  Parliament  adopted.  Congress  declared 6  Lord  North's 
offer  "unreasonable,"  because  it  did  not  renounce  "the  pretended 
right  to  tax  us,"  but  simply  changed  the  mode  of  taxation.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  retaliation  for  the  adoption  by  Congress  of 
the  articles  of  the  "American  Association"  (§  196),  Parliament 

i  See  Bancroft's  United  States,  IV,  76.  2  ibid.,  No.  73. 

*  Adams'  British  Orations,  I,  182.  a  ibid.,  IV.,  103. 

6  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  74.    «  Ibid.,  No.  78. 


1775]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        189 

had  already  passed  a  bill1  which  cut  off  the  colonies,  that  had 
agreed  to  the  articles,  from  foreign  trade,  and  prohibited  them 
from  taking  any  part  in  the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland.  Thus 
at  one  blow  the  chief  industry  of  New  England  and  the  most 
important  commerce  not  only  of  New  England  but  of  the  other 
offending  colonies  were  paralyzed. 

Later  (1775),  Parliament  enacted  a  law  prohibiting  all  trade 
and  intercourse  with  America.2 

While  the  First  Continental  Congress  was  sitting,  Governor 
Gage  suspended  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts.  That  body  at 
once  resolved  itself  into  a  Provincial  Congress,  adjourned  to  Con 
cord  (1774),  and  there  organized,  choosing  John  Hancock  for 
president.  This  Provincial  Congress  appointed  a  Committee  of 
Safety  to  provide  for  the  defense  of  the  colony.  It  furthermore 
authorized  the  enrollment  of  12,000  minutemen,  who  were  to 
hold  themselves  ready  to  meet  any  emergency.  The  other  colo 
nies  organized  similar  provincial  congresses  or  conventions,  and 
prepared  to  maintain  their  rights  by  force  of  arms  if  necessary. 

Patrick  Henry  urged  the  Virginia  convention  to  prepare  for 
the  inevitable  conflict :  "  We  must  fight ! "  said  he  ;  "I  repeat  it, 
sir,  we  must  fight ! "  Virginia  heeded  the  advice,  and  at  once 
began  to  arm.  General  Gage  attempted  to  seize  some  cannon 
at  Salem,  but  failed.  Hearing  that  the  Massachusetts  Committee 
of  Safety  had  collected  cannon  and  military  stores  at  Concord, 
about  twenty  miles  from  Boston,  he  sent  out  a  secret  expedition 
of  eight  hundred  troops  to  destroy  them.  The  commander  was 
ordered  to  stop  at  Lexington  on  his  way  to  Concord  and  seize 
those  "arch-rebels,"  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock,  who  were 
suspected  of  being  in  the  village,  —  as  in  fact  they  were. 

198.  British  expedition  to  Lexington  and  Concord;  beginning 
of  the  siege  of  Boston.  Paul  Revere,  mounting  a  fleet  horse,  rode 
to  Lexington  in  advance  of  the  British,  rousing  the  country  as 
he  passed  with  his  midnight  cry,  "  The  regulars  are  coming !  " 
Adams  and  Hancock,  warned  in  time,  escaped  across  the  fields. 
1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  75.  2  Ibid.,  No.  80. 


i  go 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


[1775 


Captain  John  Parker  of  Lexington  had  gathered  a  company  of 
sixty  or  seventy  men  on  the  village  green  to  meet  the  British. 
"  Don't  fire  first,"  said  he,  "  but  if  they  want  war  let  it  begin  here." 
Just  before  daybreak  (April  19,  1775)  the  regulars  appeared. 
"  Disperse,  ye  rebels  !  "  shouted  Pitcairn,  the  British  commander. 
The  Americans  did  not  move ;  they  were  "  too  few  to  resist, 
too  brave  to  fly."  "  Fire  !  "  cried  Pitcairn.  Seven  patriots  fell. 
Then  Parker  ordered  his  men  to  leave  the  field ;  as  they  did  so 
they  fired  a  few  scattering  shots  at  the  enemy. 

Proceeding  to  Concord  the  regulars  destroyed  such  military 
stpres  as  they  could  find.  At  Concord  bridge  the  patriots  met 

the  British ;  a  fight  ensued  and 
several  fell  on  each  side.  It 
was  the  opening  battle  of  the 
Revolution. 

Then  the  British  began  the 
return  march  to  Boston ;  the  en 
raged  farmers  pursued  them, 
firing  from  behind  every  bush, 
fence,  and  tree.  An  English 
officer  says  that  the  British  fled 
before  the  Americans  like  sheep. 
At  Lexington  the  flying  regulars 
were  reenforced  by  a  thousand  fresh  troops  sent  out  by  Gage. 
By  the  time  they  reached  Charlestown  they  had  lost  nearly  three 
hundred  of  their  number. 

All  the  following  night  minutemen  were  pouring  into  Cam 
bridge.  Every  New  England  colony  speedily  began  to  raise  and 
send  men  under  such  leaders  as  Putnam,  Stark,  Arnold,  and 
Greene ;  in  all,  an  army  of  about  sixteen  thousand  was  gathered. 
They  surrounded  Boston  on  the  land  side,  and  General  Gage, 
with  his  force  of  less  than  four  thousand  troops,  found  himself 
effectually  "  bottled  up." 

199.  Capture  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point ;  meeting  of  the 
Second  Continental  Congress  (1775).  In  order  to  get  a  supply  of 


'adonsac 


THE    REVOLUTION          ,    ^» 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  STATES  &K& 

•  ~^^is 

^  SCALE    OF    MILES  f\    * 

0    10  20        40        60        80      300  I  ^  V 


1775]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        191 

arms  and  powder  an  expedition  was  sent  to  capture  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga,  which  controlled  the  waterway  between  New  York  and 
Canada.  This  expedition,  led  by  Ethan  Allen,  was  made  up  of 
"  Green  Mountain  Boys  "  with  some  volunteers  from  Connecticut 
and  western  Massachusetts. 

At  sunrise  (May  10,  1775)  Allen  surprised  the  sentinel  at  one 
of  the  gates  of  the  fort  and  rushed  in  just  as  the  commander  was 
getting  out  of  bed.  He  ordered  the  astonished  officer  to  surren 
der  "  in  the  name  of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Con 
gress."  The  exultant  patriots  captured  a  large  number  of  cannon 
and  small  arms  and  a  quantity  of  ammunition.  The  next  day 
Seth  Warner  of  Bennington,  who  had  accompanied  Allen,  took 
the  British  works  at  Crown  Point. 

A  few  hours  after  we  had  obtained  possession  of  Ticonderoga, 
the  Continental  Congress  —  John  Hancock,  president — met 
(May  10,  1775)  in  the  old  statehouse  at  Philadelphia.  This 
second  Congress  remained,  in  name  at  least,  in  perpetual  session 
until  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation 
nearly  six  years  later  (March,  1781). 

200.  Gage's  proclamation ;  Washington  made  commander  in 
chief.  Gage  was  now  (May  25,1775)  reenf orced  by  troops  brought 
to  Boston  by  Generals  Burgoyne,  Clinton,  and  Howe.  With  ten 
thousand  regulars  under  his  command,  he  felt  himself  able  to  take 
a  more  decided  stand.  He  issued  a  proclamation  (June  12,  1775) 
threatening  to  hang  as  rebels  and  traitors  all  who  continued  to 
resist  His  Majesty's  government.  He  closed  by  offering  pardon 
to  those  who  should  forthwith  "  lay  down  their  arms  .  .  .  except 
ing  only  .  .  .  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock." 

A  few  days  later  (June  15,  i775)>  Congress  chose  George 
Washington  to  be  commander  in  chief  of  "  all  the  Continental 
forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  for  the  defense  of  American  liberty." 
History  attests  the  wisdom  of  that  choice  :  "No  nobler  figure 
ever  stood  in  the  forefront  of  a  nation's  life." 

201.  The  opposing  armies  in  the  Revolution.  According  to  the 
official  report  of  General  Knox,  the  whole  number  of  men  in  the 


192        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1775-1783 

Continental  army  during  the  eight  years  of  the  war  (1775-1783) 
was  about  252,000,  and  the  whole  number  of  militia  about 
192,000.  This  would  make  the  total  enlistments  for  the  war 
nearly  444,000,  drawn  from  a^white  population  which  in  1775 
did  not  exceed  2,500,000.  (>° 

The  average  yearly  strength  of  the  Continental  army  was 
31,500  men,  but  oftentimes  this  strength  was  on  paper  only,  and 
the  actual  number  present  for  duty  was  frequently  not  more  than 
about  15,000,  while  shortly  after  Washington's  retreat  across  the 
Delaware  his  force  shrank  to  less  than  3000.  The  militia  force 
was  subject  to  great  and  sudden  fluctuations,  which  make  trust 
worthy  estimates  well-nigh  impossible. 

The  enlistments  in  the  Continental  army  were  for  terms  often 
not  exceeding  a  few  months,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  for  more  than 
three  years.  Congress,  owing  to  its  own  mismanagement,  found 
it  impossible  to  get  recruits  for  the  entire  war.  The  difficulty  of 
feeding,  clothing,  arming,  and  paying  the  men  greatly  aggravated 
this  evil.  Furthermore,  sickness  thinned  the  ranks,  and  in  the 
"dark  days  of  the  Revolution  "  hardships  and  privations  drove 
so  many  to  leave  the  army  that  Washington  wrote  (June,  1777), 
"  Our  numbers  diminish  more  by  desertion  than  they  increase  by 
enlistments."  But  if  in  the  long  contest  many  fainted  and  fell 
by  the  wayside,  others  fought  nobly  to  the  end,  and  in  hunger, 
cold,  poverty,  and  the  pangs  of  death  proved  themselves  unflinch 
ingly  true  to  their  country,  their  leader,  and  their  flag. 

A  large  number  of  European  officers  offered  their  services  to 
Congress.  Out  of  twenty-nine  major  generals  in  the  Revolutionary 
army  more  than  one  third  were  foreigners.  A  good  many  of  these 
men  did  excellent  service,  but  there  were  some  "black  sheep" 
among  them,  like  Conway  and  Charles  Lee. 

The  most  noted  engineer  among  the  first  foreign  volunteers 
was  Kosciusko,  a  Polish  military  officer  (1776).  He  planned 
the  greater  part  of  the  fortifications  at  West  Point.  Duportail, 
who  came  later  (1777),  constructed  the  siege  works  at  Yorktown. 
Count  Pulaski,  a  countryman  of  Kosciusko's,  fought  bravely  under 


1775-1783]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION      193 

Washington  and  gave  his  life  for  the  republic  at  the  siege  of 
Savannah  (1779). 

The  two  best  known  foreign  officers  in  the  American  army  were 
Lafayette  and  Steuben.  Lafayette,  accompanied  by  De  Kalb, 
came  (1777)  when  he  was  but  nineteen.  He  not  only  served 
without  pay,  but  spent  large  sums  of  his  own  money  in  clothing 
and  providing  for  the  men  who  fought  under  him.  Baron  Steu 
ben  was  noted  as  a  military  organizer  and  disciplinarian.  He 
drilled  the  half-fed,  half-clothed  patriots  of  the  Continental  army 
with  German  thoroughness  until  they  fought  with  the  coolness 
and  efficiency  of  European  veterans. 

The  total  number  of  the  British  army  cannot  be  very  accu 
rately  determined,  but  it  probably  seldom  exceeded  thirty-five 
thousand  men.  Less  than  half  of  them  were  English  subjects. 
The  war  in  the  outset  was  unpopular  in  England,  and  George  III 
was  reduced  "  to  the  military  necessity "  of  hiring  troops  from 
the  Prince  of  Hesse-Cassel  and  other  petty  German  states. 
These  "Hessians,"  as  they  were  called,  had  no  choice;  they 
were  forced  to  go  to  America  to  shoot  and  to  be  shot  at  simply 
because  their  masters  at  home  got  so  much  a  head  for  them. 

202.  The  American  navy  and  privateers.  Before  the  close  of 
1776  Congress  had  launched  a  navy  of  thirteen  small  but  effec 
tive  vessels,  which  were  under  the  command  of  "  Admiral "  Esek 
Hopkins  of  Rhode  Island.  This  little  navy  did  excellent  service 
and  captured  a  large  number  of  English  merchantmen,  thereby 
obtaining  much-needed  military  supplies  for  the  army.  But  in 
two  years  eight  of  our  men  of  war  had  been  taken  by  the  enemy, 
and  by  1781  all  of  the  remaining  vessels  had  been  captured  or 
destroyed. 

Congress  had  authorized  privateering,  and  the  Atlantic  soon 
swarmed  with  small  vessels  fitted  out  in  New  England  ^and  the 
middle  states.  The  number  of  Americans  engaged  in  this  war 
fare  on  the  sea  probably  outnumbered  the  entire  Continental 
army.  In  the  course  of  a  single  year  (1776)  they  took  nearly 
three  hundred  and  fifty  vessels,  worth,  with  their  cargoes,  at  least 


194        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1775-1783 

$5,000,000,  and  a  complete  record  of  prizes  captured  would  show 
a  total  amounting  in  value  to  many  millions  more. 

203.  The  Loyalists  or  Tories.1  Before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revo 
lution  all  or  very  nearly  all  of  the  colonists  were  loyal  to  the  king. 
The  agitation  of  the  Stamp  Act  caused  a  certain  amount  of  divi 
sion,  but  even  those  who  were  most  determined  in  their  resistance 
to  that  act  did  not  think  for  a  moment  of  renouncing  their  alle 
giance  to  the  crown. 

Later,  after  many  of  the  colonists  had  decided  to  take  up  arms 
in  defense  of  their  rights,  they  still  proclaimed  themselves  subjects 
of  the  king ;  but  after  independence  was  declared,  a  sharp  and 
decided  separation  necessarily  took  place  between  the  patriots 
or  Whigs,  who  supported  that  declaration,  and  the  Loyalists  or 
Tories,  who  opposed  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  with  accuracy  what  proportion  of  the 
people  ranged  themselves  openly  or  secretly  on  the  Tory  side. 
The  Loyalists  themselves  claimed  that  they  were  in  the  majority 
and  that  the  war  was  carried  through  by  a  small  but  energetic 
minority  who  had  got  the  control.  John  Adams  believed  that  at 
least  one  third  of  the  population  of  the  colonies  were  Tories. 

A  considerable  percentage  of  them  were  men  of  property  and 
high  social  standing.  Governor  Hutchinson  of  Massachusetts  was 
a  good  representative  of  this  class.  These  men  were  thoroughly 
patriotic,  but  they  clung  to  union  with  the  mother-country,  while 
the  patriotism  of  the  Whigs  centered  in  the  American  Republic. 
One  class  was  as  sincere,  as  earnest,  and  as  self-sacrificing  as  the 
other. 

The  largest  number  of  Tories  was  to  be  found  perhaps  in  the 
colonies  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia. 
Virginia  and  New  England  were  the  strongholds  of  the  Whigs. 

In  the  Carolinas  the  parties  were  so  evenly  divided  that  it  gave 
the  Revolution  there  many  of  the  most  cruel  characteristics  of  a 
civil  war,  in  which  each  party  bent  all  its  energies  to  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  other.  In  Georgia  the  Tories  were  so  strong  that 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  VII,  185  ;  American  Historical  Review,  I,  24. 


1775-1783]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION     195 

they  were  planning  to  detach  that  colony  from  the  general  move 
ment  of  the  Revolution,  and  might  perhaps  have  succeeded  if 
Cornwallis  had  not  been  defeated  at  Yorktown. 

At  the  North  the  Loyalists  were  often  very  roughly  handled 
by  excited  Sons  of  Liberty,  who  thought  that  tar  and  feathers 
fitted  them  better  than  anything  else.  The  state  authorities 
(1776)  banished  the  more  obstinate  Tories  and  confiscated  their 
property,  in  some  cases  threatening  them  with  imprisonment  or 
death  if  they  returned.  Several  thousand  of  the  extreme  Tories 
enlisted  on  the  British  side.  With  their  Indian  allies  they  rav 
aged  parts  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

Eventually  great  numbers  of  Loyalists,  probably  more  than  a 
hundred  thousand  in  all,  were  forced  to  leave  the  United  States. 
Those  going  from  the  North  generally  took  refuge  in  Nova  Scotia 
and  Canada,  while  those  who  left  the  southern  states  settled  in 
the  Bahamas  and  West  Indies.  In  many  cases  they  left  valuable 
estates ;  men  of  wealth  and  high  social  standing  fled  with  their 
families  with  nothing  to  depend  upon  but  British  army  rations  and 
the  hope  of  receiving  aid  from  the  king  or  Parliament.  After  the 
war  was  over  Parliament  voted  them  an  indemnity  of  several  mil 
lions  of  pounds,  and  tried,  but  without  success,  to  induce  the 
United  States  to  restore  their  confiscated  estates. 

204.  Finances  of  the  Revolution.  The  total  amount  of  hard 
money  in  the  colonies  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  has 
been  roughly  estimated  at  $6,000,000.  The  average  annual 
expenses  of  the  war  were  about  $20,000,000 ;  hence  the  specie 
on  hand,  could  the  whole  of  it  have  been  used,  would  not  have 
met  the  demands  for  more  than  a  few  months. 

The  country  looked  to  Congress  for  help ;  but  Congress  had 
neither  money  nor  credit  —  for  what  foreign  government  or  for 
eign  capitalist  would  loan  anything  to  thirteen  rebellious  states  ? 
Congress  might  indeed  have  levied  a  tax  on  the  colonies,  but 
did  not  dare  take  that  step  for  fear  of  insurrection.  In  this 
dilemma  it  determined  to  call  the  printing  press  to  its  aid  and 
strike  off  a  few  millions  of  paper  money. 


196        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1775-1783 

It  began  (1775)  with  a  modest  issue  of  $2,000,000;  this  was 
quickly  used  up  and  the  cry  came  for  more.  More  followed,  until 
finally  the  bills  known  as  "Continental  currency"  were  issued 
by  the  wagonload.  Long  before  the  close  of  the  war  the  total 
amount  so  issued  had  reached  over  $240,000,000.  There  it 
stopped,  for  the  single  reason  that  Congress  found  it  was  useless 
to  print  any  more  worthless  promises  to  pay.1 

By  the  beginning  of  1 7  7  7  many  people  refused  to  take  the  Con 
tinental  currency  on  a  par  with  silver.  Congress  resolved  that 
they  should  take  it,  and  declared  all  who  declined  to  do  so  "  ene 
mies  "  of  the  United  States.  The  result  was  that  merchants  who 
refused  to  sell  their  goods  for  paper  money  sometimes  had  part 
of  their  stock  seized  or  their  shops  shut  up.  A  still  more  heroic 
method  of  treatment  was  adopted  when  Congress  empowered 
Washington  to  arrest  and  imprison  those  business  men  who  were 
regarded  as  foes  to  our  public  credit. 

Congress  next  tried  the  experiment  of  endeavoring  to  fix  the 
prices  at  which  all  provisions  must  be  sold,  and  also  to  decide 
what  wages  in  Continental  money  should  be  paid  for  a  day's  work. 
This  proved  a  failure,  and  so  did  the  scheme  of  calling  on  the 
states  for  "  requisitions,"  or  money  to  carry  on  the  war.  Finally, 
in  order  to  get  food  for  the  army,  Washington  was  authorized  to 
seize  supplies  of  beef,  pork,  flour,  and  other  necessaries,  and  to 
give  the  owners  a  receipt  of  seizure,  which  would  be  a  claim  for 
payment.  This  plan  created  so  much  friction  that  it  had  to  be 
given  up  like  the  others. 

Fortunately,  Burgoyne's  surrender  gave  us  a  certain  standing 
in  Europe,  and  we  obtained  loans  and  gifts,  chiefly  from  France, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  about  $12,000,000.  Then  again 
our  little  navy  and  our  numerous  privateers  captured  some  large 
supplies  of  military  clothing  and  arms  from  English  transports. 
The  French  army  and  navy  stationed  at  Newport  paid  for  all  the 
supplies  they  purchased  here  in  hard  money ;  this  made  it  pos 
sible  for  Robert  Morris  to  borrow  specie  in  aid  of  our  army. 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  34-48, 


177R-]       THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        197 

By  the  spring  of  1780  a  government  paper  dollar  would  pass 
for  only  two  or  three  cents.  Creditors  fled  when  they  saw 
debtors  coming  prepared  to  pay  up  old  scores  with  bundles  of 
Continental  bills,  and  even  Washington,  who  made  it  a  duty 
to  cheerfully  take  the  paper  money  for  debts  contracted  during 
the  period  of  depression,  wrote  that  he  would  not  take  the  stuff 
in  settlement  of  contracts  made  before  the  war. 

A  little  later,  the  bills  ceased  to  circulate  at  all.  Hence 
forward  no  one  would  touch  them,  and  when  a  man  wished  to 
express  his  utter  contempt  for  a  thing,  he  said  emphatically, 
"  It 's  not  worth  a  Continental  !  " 

205.  The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  (1775).  While  Congress  was 
engaged  in  preparing  for  war,  General  Gage  resolved  to  seize  the 
heights  of  Bunker  Hill,  in  Charlestown,  overlooking  Boston. 

But  before  Gage  got  ready  to  move,  Colonel  William  Prescott, 
with  a  force  of  about  1200  men,  later  increased  to  1500,  was 
on  his  way  to  the  hill.  The  Americans  worked  all  night,  and 
when  the  sun  rose  on  the  seventeenth  of  June  (1775),  Gage 
was  astonished  to  see  Colonel  Prescott  leisurely  walking  on  the 
bank  of  earth  which  his  men  had  thrown  up  on  the  crest  of 
the  hill. 

"Will  he  fight?"  asked  Gage  of  a  man  who  knew  Prescott 
well.  "He  will  fight,"  was  the  answer,  "as  long  as  a  drop  of 
blood  remains  in  his  veins."  "Then,"  said  the  British  com 
mander,  "  the  works  must  be  carried." 

In  the  afternoon  Howe,  with  about  3000  veteran  troops,  led 
the  attack.  The  day  was  intensely  hot,  and  the  British  had  to 
charge  up  a  steep  slope  covered  with  tall  grass  and  divided  into 
fields  by  stone  walls  and  fences. 

Powder  was  scarce  with  the  Americans  and  their  officers 
ordered  them  not  to  waste  it.  "  Don't  one  of  you  fire,"  said 
Putnam,  "  until  you  see  the  white  of  their  eyes."  The  men 
obeyed  orders,  and  when  they  did  fire  it  was  with  terrible  effect. 
The  British  fell  back,  rallied,  made  a  second  attack,  and  were 
again  repulsed. 


198         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1775-1776 

After  a  long  delay  Howe  made  a  third  assault  up  the  fatal 
hill.  This  time  he  succeeded.  Firing  their  last  round  of  ammu 
nition,  but  still  fighting  desperately  with  the  butt  ends  of  their 
muskets,  Prescott's  little  army  slowly  retreated. 

They  were  driven  from  their  works,  not  because  they  had 
been  defeated,  but  because  they  no  longer  had  powder  and  ball 
to  keep  up  the  battle.  It  was  a  costly  success  for  the  British, 
since  in  an  hour  and  a  half  they  had  lost  more  than  a  thousand 
men ;  our  loss  was  likewise  very  heavy,  and  among  those  who 
fell  was  the  lamented  Warren. 

The  king,  disappointed  with  Gage's  management  of  the  war, 
recalled  him  and  made  General  Howe  (§  200)  commander  in 
chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America.  Howe  was  a  brave  officer, 
but  he  was  half-hearted  in  the  'contest.  He  hoped  to  negotiate 
a  peace  and  reunite  the  mother-country  and  the  colonies  more 
firmly  than  ever. 

206.  Washington  takes  command  of  the  Continental  army ;  action 
of  Congress  ;  expedition  against  Canada.  Washington  reached  Cam 
bridge  early  in  July  (1775),  and  at  once  took  command  of  the 
Continental  army.  On  New  Year's  Day  (1776)  he  raised  the  flag 
of  the  united  British  American  colonies ;  —  it  consisted  of  the 
British  flag  with  thirteen  stripes  added,  one  for  each  colony. 

In  the  meantime  Congress  h^^fcit  forth  a  Declaration  of  the 
Causes  and  Necessity  of  takm^f  Arms  l  (July  6,  1775),  but 
expressly  added,  "We  have  not  raised  armies  with  ambitious 
designs  of  separating  from  Great  Britain  and  establishing  inde 
pendent  states."  Two  days  later,  Congress  sent  a  petition  to 
the  king 2  beseeching  him  for  relief  and  wishing  him  a  long  and 
prosperous  reign.  His  only  reply  was  a  proclamation 8  declaring 
the  colonies  in  a  state  of  open  rebellion. 

While  in  camp  at  Cambridge  Washington  learned  that  Carle- 
ton,  the  commander  of  the  British  force  in  Canada,  was  plan 
ning  a  descent  into  New  York,  where  he  hoped  to  get  the  help  of 
the  Tories  or  Loyalists  (§  203)  and  of  the  Six  Nations  (§  136). 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Charters,  etc.,  No.  76.      2  ibid.,  No.  77.      3  ibid.,  No.  79. 


1775-1776]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION     199 

To  offset  that  movement  General  Schuyler,  aided  by  General 
Montgomery,  was  ordered  to  make  an  attack  on  Montreal.  The 
expedition  started  in  the  autumn  (1775)  from  Fort  Ticonderoga, 
but  Schuyler  fell  sick  and  the  command  devolved  on  Mont 
gomery.  He  descended  Lake  Champlain,  took  Fort  Chambly, 
St.  John,  and  Montreal.  He  also  captured  a  large  quantity  of 
ammunition,  part  of  which  he  sent  to  Cambridge,  much  to  the 
delight  of  Israel  Putnam,  whose  constant  cry  had  been,  "Ye 
gods,  give  us  powder  !  " 

Benedict  Arnold  had  been  sent  (1775)  with  a  small  force  from 
Massachusetts  to  cross  the  pathless  wilderness  of  Maine  to  join 
Montgomery  and  make  a  combined  attack  on  Quebec.  Before 
Arnold  reached  Canada  he  had  lost  more  than  a  third  of  his  men 
from  sickness,  exhaustion,  and  desertion.  At  length,  after  eight 
weeks  of  hardship  and  suffering,  the  brave  commander  with  his 
sadly  diminished  little  army  came  in  sight  of  Quebec.  There 
was  snow  on  the  ground  and  the  weather  was  bitterly  cold.  His 
men  were  half-naked,  starving,  and  barefooted,  for  their  clothes 
had  been  torn  off  by  the  thorn  bushes,  and  in  the  agonies  of 
hunger  they  had  devoured  even  their  moccasins. 

On  the  last  day  of  1775  Montgomery  and  Arnold  attempted 
with  their  feeble  forces  to  storm  "  the  strongest  city  in  America." 
Montgomery  was  killed  at  the  head  of  his  troops  and  Arnold 
was  severely  wounded ;  but  unfortunately  for  himself  and  for 
his  country,  his  wound  did  not  prove  fatal ;  had  it  done  so  his 
memory  would  have  been  revered  as  that  of  a  valiant  soldier 
and  true  patriot.  The  assault  on  Quebec  proved  a  failure.  In 
the  following  summer  our  men  were  driven  out  of  Canada  and 
forced  to  retreat  to  Crown  Point  on  Lake  Champlain. 

207.  Washington  drives  the  British  out  of  Boston  (1776)  ; 
attack  on  the  Carolinas.  General  Knox  had  dragged,  by  the  aid 
of  ox  teams  and  sleds,  more  than  forty  cannon  all  the  way  from 
the  captured  fort  at  Ticonderoga  (§  199)  to  Cambridge.  Now 
that  Washington  had  both  powder  and  heavy  guns,  he  was  deter 
mined  to  force  Howe  to  give  up  Boston  or  fight. 


200          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1776 

Early  in  March  (1776)  the  American  commander,  by  a  sudden 
night  movement,  seized  Dorchester  Heights  (now  South  Boston), 
overlooking  Boston  on  the  south.  Rufus  Putnam  erected  the 
works  and  got  the  cannon  in  position.  Washington  now  held 
both  the  British  army  and  the  British  fleet  at  his  mercy.  As 
Howe  did  not  care  "  to  pay  a  Bunker  Hill  price  "  for  Dorchester 
Heights,  he  decided  to  give  up  the  town.  On  March  17  (1776) 
the  British  sailed  for  Halifax,  taking  with  them  more  than  a 
thousand  Tories  (§  203). 

Washington  entered  Boston  on  the  following  day.  The  enemy 
had  left  it  never  to  return.  Believing  that  Howe  would  endeavor 
to  strike  his  next  blow  at  New  York,  Washington  now  prepared 
to  transfer  the  Continental  army  to  that  point. 

But  before  Howe  evacuated  Boston  he  sent  General  Clinton 
(§  200)  by  sea  to  make  an  attack  on  North  Carolina.  There 
Sir  Peter  Parker,  with  a  fleet  from  Great  Britain,  bringing  a  land 
force  under  Lord  Cornwallis,  was  to  join  him.  Clinton  expected 
that  the  Tories  of  North  Carolina  (§  203)  would  aid  him  in  con 
quering  the  colony ;  but  the  North  Carolina  patriots  rose,  and 
attacking  the  Loyalists  at  Moore's  Creek  (February  27,  1776) 
completely  routed  them. 

This  defeat  of  his  Tory  allies  changed  Clinton's  plans,  and 
Parker's  fleet  having  arrived,  he  sailed  south  to  attack  Charleston. 
Charleston  harbor  was  defended  by  a  fort  of  palmetto  logs  on 
Sullivan's  Island.  Colonel  Moultrie,  with  the  help  of  such 
heroes  as  Sergeant  Jasper,  held  the  fort  and  defended  it  with 
such  desperate  courage  that  the  British  were  forced  to  retire 
with  heavy  loss. 

The  patriots  of  Georgia  —  a  colony  where  the  Tories  were 
numerous  —  were  one  in  spirit  with  the  patriots  of  the  Carolinas. 
They  said,  "  Britain  may  destroy  our  towns,  but  we  can  retire 
to  the  back  country  and  tire  her  out." 

208.  The  war  for  colonial  rights  becomes  a  war  for  national 
independence;  "Common  Sense."  Up  to  the  beginning  of  1776 
the  Americans  had  been  fighting  in  defense  of  their  rights  as 


t^r&t-t^T&^l^L-^f 


FRANKLIN'S    LETTER    TO    STRAHAN 


1776]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        2OI 

loyal  subjects  of  George  III.  Their  object  was  not  to  overthrow 
the  legitimate  authority  of  the  king  but  simply,  as  Congress 
declared,  to  resist  "  the  claim  and  exercise  of  unconstitutional 
powers  to  which  neither  the  crown  nor  Parliament  were  ever 
entitled." 

If  they  were  rebels,  then  the  leading  members  of  Parliament 
—  such  men  as  Burke,  Pitt,  and  Fox,  who  were  battling  for 
political  reform  in  England  —  were  also  rebels.  The  main  dif 
ference  was  that  the  Americans  fought  with  guns  because  they 
had  no  parliamentary  votes,  while  the  Whigs  in  Parliament  fought 
with  votes  because  they  had  no  need  of  guns. 

But  after  the  opening  of  1776  there  were  unmistakable  signs 
that  men's  minds  were  rapidly  moving  toward  independence. 
The  positive  refusal  of  the  king  to  grant  any  measure  of  redress 
gave  great  impetus  to  this  movement. 

Early  in  January  (1776)  Thomas  Paine  published  his  remark 
able  pamphlet  entitled  "  Common  Sense."  "  Nothing,"  said  he, 
"  can  settle  our  affairs  so  expeditiously  as  an  open  and  deter 
mined  declaration  for  independence."  These  vigorous  words 
gave  expression  to  the  thoughts  of  thousands.  Edition  after  edi 
tion  of  the  pamphlet  was  called  for.  It  converted  multitudes  to 
the  belief  that  the  safety  and  welfare  of  America  demanded  a  full 
and  final  separation  from  the  mother-country. 

A  few  months  later,  the  news  came  that  the  king  had  resolved 
to  hire  a  large  body  of  German  troops  to  help  put  down  the 
American  rebellion  (§  201).  Then  Congress  resolved  that  "  every 
kind  of  authority  under  the  said  crown  should  be  totally  sup 
pressed." 

209.  The  Declaration  of  Independence;  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion.  The  climax  was  reached  on  June  7  (1776),  when  Richard 
Henry  Lee  of  Virginia  offered  the  following  resolution  in  Con 
gress  :  "  Resolved,  that  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States."  John  Adams  of 
Massachusetts  seconded  the  resolution.  This  momentous  meas 
ure  was  debated  for  two  days.  John  Adams,  Lee,  and  other 


202          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1776 

prominent  men  urged  its  immediate  adoption;  John  Dickinson, 
Edward  Rutledge,  and  other  members  from  six  of  the  middle 
and  southern  colonies  objected.  They  were  stanch  patriots,  but 
they  thought  that  the  resolution  was  untimely  and  unwise.  Jeffer 
son  says  that  the  debate  showed  "  that  the  colonies  of  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  South  Caro 
lina  were  not  yet  matured  for  falling  from  the  parent  stem,"  and 
that  "  it  was  thought  most  prudent  to  wait  a  while  for  them." 

Meanwhile,  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Roger  Sherman,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston  were  appointed  a  com 
mittee  to  draft  a  Declaration  of  Independence.  A  second  com 
mittee,  consisting  of  one  from  each  colony  except  New  Jersey, 
was  chosen  to  report  Articles  of  Confederation1  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  new  republic. 

On  July  4,  1776,  the  Declaration  of  Independence 2  was  agreed 
to,  and  was  then  signed  by  John  Hancock,  president  of  Con 
gress.  The  members  of  Congress  signed  it  on  August  2.  The 
Declaration  not  only  marked  the  birth  of  the  United  States  as 
a  nation,  but  it  made  the  natural  rights  of  man  its  corner  stone. 

The  Americans  had  not  sought  separation  from  the  mother- 
country.  George  III  and  his  "friends"  (§  185)  forced  them  to 
take  the  decisive  step.  The  Declaration  stated  the  reasons  for 
this  action  in  an  indictment  of  the  king  containing  twenty-seven 
counts.8 

Washington  ordered  the  Declaration  to  be  read  to  every  bri 
gade  of  the  Continental  army  in  and  around  New  York  City.  That 
night  the  gilded  lead  statue  of  George  III  which  stood  on  Bowl 
ing  Green  was  pulled  down  to  be  run  into  bullets.  Henceforth 
the  Americans  were  determined  to  prosecute  the  war  until  Great 
Britain  should  acknowledge  them  a  separate  and  independent 
people. 

210.  The  British  forces  at  New  York;  offers  of  pardon;  battle 
of  Long  Island.  When  General  Howe  arrived  with  his  army  from 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  2.  2  Ibid.,  No.  i. 

8  See  Declaration  of  Independence,  Appendix,  ii,  iii. 


/VT^tx^C^crt-^^w. 


c/n. 


f  cf 


'SIGNATURES   TO   THE    DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE 


1776]        THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        203 

Halifax  (§  207),  he  found  Washington  in  possession  of  New  York 
City  and  Brooklyn ;  he  therefore  encamped  on  Staten  Island. 
General  Howe's  brother,  Admiral  Howe,  arrived  soon  afterward 
with  a  fleet  bringing  heavy  reinforcements.  In  accordance  with 
instructions  from  the  British  government,  the  Howes  issued  a  cir 
cular  offering  to  receive  the  submission  of  all  rebels  who  should 
throw  themselves  on  the  king's  mercy.  This  second  attempt  at 
conciliation  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  failed  as  completely 
as  Lord  North's  had  done  the  year  before  (§197).  As  Wash 
ington  said,  the  Americans  felt  that  they  were  simply  defending 
their  rights,  and  "  having  committed  no  fault,  they  needed  no 
pardon." 

It  was  now  evident  that  the  war  must  go  on.  Washington's 
entire  force  consisted  of  less  than  eighteen  thousand  men,  of 
whom  only  about  eleven  thousand  reported  for  duty.  These  raw 
recruits  were  poorly  armed ;  some,  in  fact,  had  no  arms  at  all, 
and  had  never  handled  any  weapon  more  dangerous  than  a  pitch 
fork.  On  the  other  hand,  Howe  commanded  a  body  of  veterans 
splendidly  equipped,  and  nearly  thirty-two  thousand  strong. 

The  English  commander's  plan  of  campaign  was  based  on  the 
maxim,  "  Divide  to  conquer."  His  object  was  to  get  possession 
of  the  Hudson.  This  would  give  the  British  control  of  the  water 
way  to  Canada  and  would  effectually  cut  off  New  England  from 
the  middle  and  southern  states. 

Washington,  fully  alive  to  this  danger,  was  determined  to  hold 
New  York  and  maintain  the  military  unity  of  the  colonies.  t  To 
prevent  the  enemy  from  ascending  the  Hudson  he  had  erected 
Fort  Washington  on  the  upper  part  of  the  island  of  New  York, 
with  Fort  Lee  on  the  opposite  shore.  General  Greene  was 
ordered  to  hold  the  important  position  of  Brooklyn  Heights,  com 
manding  New  York  on  the  south.  Unfortunately,  Greene  fell 
sick  and  Washington  was  obliged  to  give  the  command  to  Gen 
eral  Putnam,  who  had  never  examined  the  defenses  on  Long 
Island.  Putnam's  entire  force  was  only  eight  thousand  men. 
Howe  saw  that  if  he  could  get  possession  of  Brooklyn  Heights, 


204          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1776 

he  could  drive  Washington  out  of  New  York,  just  as  Washington, 
after  he  got  possession  of  Dorchester  Heights,  had  driven  him 
(§  207)  out  of  Boston. 

The  English  commander  sent  twenty  thousand  regulars  to  dis 
lodge  Putnam.  The  latter,  while  holding  his  intrenchments, 
could  spare  only  four  thousand  to  oppose  the  enemy's  advance. 
The  odds  were  five  to  one  in  favor  of  the  British ;  hence  they 
easily  won  the  battle  of  Long  Island  (August  27,  1776). 

During  the  progress  of  the  battle  Washington  crossed  over 
from  New  York  to  Brooklyn  Heights  with  reinforcements.  He 
decided  that  retreat  was  the  only  prudent  course.  Taking  ad 
vantage  of  a  heavy  fog,  which  rested  on  Long  Island  but  did 
not  touch  the  opposite  shore,  he  succeeded  in  getting  the  entire 
army  safely  across  to  New  York.  When  the  sun  appeared,  Howe 
stretched  out  his  hand  to  take  the  "  nest  of  rebels,"  but  found  to 
his  disgust  that  the  nest  was  empty. 

211.  Washington  driven  out  of  New  York ;  loss  of  Forts  Wash 
ington  and  Lee.  A  few  weeks  later  (September,  1776),  Howe 
landed  a  strong  body  of  troops  in  New  York.  He  stopped  to 
taste  some  of  Mrs.  Robert  Murray's  old  Madeira,  and  so  just 
missed  the  chance  of  capturing  Putnam's  division.  While  the 
gallant  British  commander  was  enjoying  the  society  of  that  patri 
otic  lady  and  her  charming  daughter,  Putnam  hastily  retreated  to 
Harlem  and  joined  Washington.  Mrs.  Murray  had  "  saved  the 
American  army." 

Howe  gradually  pushed  the  Americans  as  far  north  as  North- 
castle.  Washington  then  crossed  over  to  New  Jersey,  leaving 
General  Charles  Lee  with  seventy-five  hundred  men  to  defend 
Northcastle,  and  sending  Heath  with  three  thousand  men  to  hold 
the  Highlands  at  West  Point. 

Howe  obtained  plans  of  Fort  Washington  (then  under  com 
mand  of  General  Greene)  from  a  traitor  within  its  walls.  The 
British  general  surprised  and  took  the  works  (November  16, 
1776).  Washington  witnessed  the  battle  from  the  west  bank  of 
the  Hudson  and  wept  like  a  child,  it  is  said,  when  he  saw  his  men 


1776]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        205 

bayoneted  by  the  Hessians  while  begging  for  quarter.  Now  that 
Fort  Washington  was  taken,  Fort  Lee,  which  Greene  held,  was 
as  useless  as  one  half  of  a  pair  of  shears  without  the  other  half. 
Before  he  could  evacuate  it  he  was  surprised,  and  barely  managed 
to  escape. 

212.  The  retreat  across  New  Jersey  (November  21  to  December 
8,  1776)  ;  Washington  crosses  the  Delaware.    Washington  at  once 
(November  21,  1776)  began  his  famous  retreat  across  New  Jersey. 
If  worst"  came  to  worst,  he  might  hope  by  crossing  the  Delaware 
to  save  his  army  and  also  to  save  Philadelphia.     He  had  ordered 
Lee   (§201)  to  join  him  without  delay,  but  that  false-hearted 
officer  deliberately  disobeyed.     He  was  plotting  to  get  the  chief 
command  for  himself. 

Lord  Cornwallis  (§  207)  pursued  Washington's  little  army  so 
closely  that  the  British  would  sometimes  be  entering  a  town  at 
one  end  just  as  the  Americans  were  leaving  it  at  the  other  ;  but 
by  rapid  marching  and  by  destroying  bridges  Washington  managed 
to  keep  out  of  the  enemy's  clutches. 

On  December  8  (1776)  Washington  reached  Trenton.  He 
seized  every  boat  and  scow  on  the  river  from  Philadelphia  for 
seventy  miles  upward,  and  then  crossed  the  Delaware.  Corn 
wallis  came  up  to  the  bank  of  the  river  just  in  time  to  see  the 
last  boat  load  of  patriots  push  off  from  the  shore. 

A  few  days  later,  Lee  was  captured  in  New  Jersey.  He  had 
moved  there  with  his  army,  but  with  no  intention,  as  he  later 
admitted,  of  joining  Washington.  Lee's  force  managed  to  escape 
the  British  and  unite  with  Washington ;  but  many  of  the  new 
comers  were  "  fit  only  for  the  hospital." 

213.  Victory  at  Trenton  ;  Robert  Morris  ;  victory  at  Princeton. 
While  Cornwallis,  who    had    moved    to   Princeton,  was  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  cross  the  river  and  attack  Philadelphia,  he 
left  Colonel  Rahl  with  a  force  of  Hessians  to  hold  Trenton.     On 
Christmas  night  (1776)  Washington,  with  less  than  twenty-five 
hundred  men,  secretly  recrossed  the  Delaware,  then  full  of  float 
ing  ice,  and  fell  on  the  enemy  early  in  the  morning  at  Trenton. 


206        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [177&-1777 

Rahl  had  not  slept  off  the  effects  of  his  numerous  bowls  of  Christ 
mas  punch,  and  Washington  completely  surprised  him,  capturing 
between  nine  hundred  and  a  thousand  prisoners,  besides  large 
quantities  of  arms  and  ammunition. 

It  was  a  little  battle,  but  it  was  a  great  victory  because  it  had 
great  results.  It  kindled  new  hope  in  the  hearts  of  dispirited 
and  despairing  patriots,  and  it  completely  upset  Howe's  plans. 

The  only  drawback  to  the  joy  of  the  American  commander 
was  the  pressing  need  of  money,  of  hard  cash  (§  204),  not 
depreciated  or  worthless  Continental  bills,  to  secure  new  enlist 
ments.  In  this  emergency  Washington  wrote  to  his  friend  Robert 
Morris  of  Philadelphia,  asking  him  to  send  as  much  silver  as  he 
could  raise.  Morris  set  out  before  it  was  light  on  New  Year's 
morning  (1777),  and  went  from  house  to  house,  rousing  his 
friends  from  their  beds  and  begging  them  to  lend  him  all  the 
coin  they  could  spare.  In  this  way  he  got  $50,000,  which  he 
forthwith  sent  to  Washington. 

Cornwallis,  having  left  part  of  his  force  at  Princeton,  hurried 
south  in  the  hope  of  catching  the  Americans  at  Trenton.  Wash 
ington's  case  seemed  hopeless ;  behind  him  was  the  broad  Dela 
ware  full  of  broken  ice,  while  before  him  Cornwallis  had  gathered 
his  troops  for  battle. 

The  British  did  not  reach  Trenton  until  nearly  sundown 
(January  2,  1777),  and  the  night  threatened  to  be  foggy.  Corn 
wallis  decided  to  postpone  the  attack  until  the  next  day.  He 
went  to  bed  in  high  spirits.  "At  last,"  said  he,  "we  have  run 
down  the  old  fox,  and  we  will  bag  him  in  the  morning." 

But  "the  old  fox"  did  not  wait  to  be  bagged.  Leaving  his 
camp  fires  burning  brightly,  Washington  crept  stealthily  out  of 
his  intrenchments,  slipped  around  Cornwallis'  sleeping  army, 
and  marched  rapidly  on  Princeton.  There  (January  3,  1777) 
he  surprised  and  completely  routed  the  British  line.  Washing 
ton  then  advanced  to  the  heights  of  Morristown  and  went  into 
winter  quarters.  Frederick  the  Great  considered  the  movements 
of  Washington  during  these  ten  days,  December  25,  1776,  to 


THE  REVOLUTION 

THE  MIDDLE  STATES 

SCALE   OF   MILES 


1777]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        2O/ 

January  4,  1777,  the  most  brilliant  of  any  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  military  history. 

214.  Plans  of  Lord  Germain;  Washington  baffles  Howe;  Howe 
sails  for  Philadelphia.  The  American  commander  spent  the 
winter  at  Morristown  reorganizing  his  army. 

Lord  Germain  of  the  English  cabinet  had  the  general  con 
trol  of  the  British  forces  in  America.  He  now  resolved  to  make 
a  determined  effort  to  get  possession  of  the  Hudson.  The  fol 
lowing  plan  was  agreed  upon:  (i)  Burgoyne  was  to  move  down 
from  Canada  early  in  the  coming  summer  (1777),  take  Ticon- 
deroga,  and  advance  directly  on  Albany.  (2)  Another  British 
force,  starting  from  Canada,  was  to  land  at  Oswego,  New  York. 
They  were  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  Six  Nations  and  of  the 
Tories ;  then  they  were  to  capture  Fort  Stanwix  (near  Rome)  on 
the  upper  Mohawk  and,  moving  down  the  Mohawk  Valley,  join 
Burgoyne  at  Albany.  (3)  Howe  was  to  send  a  division  of  his 
army  up  the  Hudson,  capture  the  American  forts  in  the  High 
lands,  and  advance  and  join  forces  with  Burgoyne.  This  scheme, 
if  successful,  would  give  the  English  entire  control  of  the  state  of 
New  York. 

By  a  mischance  Lord  Germain's  dispatch  from  London,  order 
ing  Howe  to  cooperate  with  Burgoyne,  did  not  reach  the  British 
commander  until  it  was  too  late  for  him  to  be  of  service. 

Howe  had  wasted  nearly  three  weeks  (June  12-30,  1777)  in 
endeavoring  to  march  across  New  Jersey  to  strike  Philadelphia,  the 
rebel  capital.  Nothing  hindered  the  British  general's  movements 
but  Washington's  little  army.  Washington  took  such  strong  posi 
tions  that  the  enemy  did  not  dare  attack  him,  and  if  they  left  him 
in  their  rear  he  could  cut  off  their  supplies.  Constantly  harassed 
by  our  troops,  Howe  finally  fell  back  in  disgust  to  Staten  Island. 

Late  in  July  (1777),  having  left  Clinton  to  hold  New  York, 
Howe  started  with  a  large  fleet  to  reach  Philadelphia  by  sea. 
He  found  the  Delaware  obstructed ;  for  this  reason  he  landed 
his  troops  (August  23,  1777)  at  the  head  of  Chesapeake  Bay, 
sixty  miles  from  Philadelphia. 


208.          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1777 

215.  The  British  enter  Philadelphia  ;  Valley  Forge;  Burgoyne's 
advance  to  Fort  Edward.    Washington  met  the  advancing  British 
force  at  Chad's  Ford  on  Brandywine  Creek  (September  n,  1777). 
The  Americans  were  small  in  numbers  and  were  defeated  with 
heavy  loss.     Howe  entered  Philadelphia  in  triumph  about  a  fort 
night  later. 

Soon  afterward  Washington  attacked  (October  4,  1777)  the 
British  force  encamped  at  Germantown  (now  a  suburb  of  Phila 
delphia).  A  dense  fog  prevailed,  and  two  of  our  brigades  fired  at 
each  other  in  the  belief  that  they  were  attacking  the  enemy ;  the 
confusion  that  ensued  caused  our  defeat..  Early  in  December 
Washington  retreated  to  the  hills  of  Valley  Forge,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Philadelphia,  where  he  took  up  his  winter  quarters 
(1777-1778). 

But  if  the  British  had  succeeded  in  getting  possession  of  the 
capital  of  the  American  republic,  on  the  other  hand  they  had 
met  with  terrible  disaster  in  the  North.  According  to  orders 
(§  214),  Burgoyne,  with  a  force  of  nearly  eight  thousand  men, 
including  some  four  hundred  Indians,  moved  upon  Ticonderoga 
and  captured  it  (July  5,  1777).  He  then  advanced  against 
General  Schuyler  (§  206),  who  stood  between  him  and  the 
Hudson.  Schuyler  felled  trees  across  the  only  road  through 
the  forest,  destroyed  fifty  bridges  and  causeways,  and  by  dam 
ming  up  a  creek  converted  a  part  of  the  British  line  of  march 
into  a  deep  swamp.  When  at  last,  after  a  march  of  twenty-four 
days,  the  British  general  reached  Fort  Edward,  Schuyler  aban 
doned  it,  and  pushing  on  across  the  Hudson  took  up  his  posi 
tion  at  Bemis  Heights,  about  twenty  miles  above  Albany. 

216.  Burgoyne   gets    his    left  wing   clipped    at    Bennington. 
Burgoyne  now  sent  (August  16,  1777)  a  thousand  or  more  Hes 
sians  and   Indians   to  make  a  raid  on  the  supplies  which  the 
Americans  were  reported  to  hold  at  Bennington,  Vermont.     But 
Colonel  John   Stark  of   New   Hampshire  and   Seth  "Warner  of 
Vermont  stood  ready  with  a  body  of  farmers  in  their  shirt  sleeves 
to  give  the  invaders  a  warm  reception.     Less  than  a  hundred 


Peekskill 


No.  II. 


YorUt 


NO.  III. 


MAP  No.  I.  Burgoyne's  campaign.  MAP  No.  II.  Washington's  advance  from  New 
York  to  Yorktown.  MAP  No.  III.  Yorktown  :  A, A, A,  American  forces;  F,F,F,  French 
army;  W,  Washington's  headquarters;  /?,  Rochambeau's  headquarters;  La/.,  Lafayette 

209 


210          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [m? 

out  of  the  thousand  Hessians  ever  got  back  to  Burgoyne,  and 
the  Indians  fled  for  their  lives,  shouting  "The  woods  are  full  of 
Yankees";  thus  the  British  general  got  his  left  wing  effectually 
clipped.  Washington  called  the  victory  at  Bennington  "a  great 
stroke."  It  prevented  Burgoyne  from  getting  the  supplies  he 
sorely  needed  and  cut  off  all  communication  between  him  and 
the  garrison  he  had  left  at  Ticonderoga. 

217.  Burgoyne  gets  his  right  wing  clipped  at  Oriskany  and 
Fort  Stanwix.    Burgoyne's  right  wing,  under  St.  Leger,  who  was 
advancing   from    Oswego    (§  214)    against    Fort   Stanwix    (near 
Rome),  fared  no  better.     General  Herkimer  met  the  enemy  at 
Oriskany  (August  6,  1777),  a  few  miles  from  the  fort.     A  ter 
rible  hand-to-hand  fight  ensued.     Herkimer   received   a  mortal 
wound  which  brought  him  to  the  ground.     He  ordered  his  men 
to  place  him  with  his  back  to  a  tree;   then,  lighting  his  pipe, 
the  hero  of  Oriskany  continued  to  direct  the  battle  until  reen- 
forcements  came  up  from  Fort  Stanwix  and  the  enemy  fled  from 
the  field. 

St.  Leger,  however,  was  besieging  Fort  Stanwix,  which  he  was 
determined  to  take  at  any  cost.  Congress  had  recently  (June 
14,  1777)  adopted  the  stars  and  stripes  as  the  banner  of  the 
American  Republic,  and  a  rudely  made  national  flag  floated  defi 
antly  over  the  fort.  It  was  the  first  time  our  colors  had  been 
displayed  in  battle  on  land  (§  224),  and  the  British  general 
swore  that  he  would  carry  the  flag  away  with  him. 

Benedict  Arnold  with  twelve  hundred  men  was  then  advanc 
ing  to  relieve  the  garrison  of  Fort  Stanwix.  Arnold  managed 
to  send  forward  reports  which  represented  him  as  marching  at 
the  head  of  several  thousand  well-armed  troops.  The  Indians  of 
St.  Leger's  force,  thinking  that  Schuyler's  whole  army  was  about 
to  swoop  down,  fled  in  a  panic.  St.  Leger  then  (August  22, 
1777)  retreated  to  Oswego  and  sailed  for  Canada. 

218.  The  first  battle   of   Bemis   Heights   (or   Saratoga);  the 
second  battle ;   results.    General   Gates,   a    scheming   politician, 
had  been   sent  by   Congress    to    supersede    Schuyler  and   fight 


1777]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        211 

Burgoyne's  center.  Gates  intrenched  himself  at  Bemis  Heights 
(September  12,  1777)  on  ground  selected  by  Benedict  Arnold 
and  fortified  by  Kosciusko  (§  201). 

Burgoyne  was  anxious  to  reach  Albany,  but  not  daring  to  leave 
the  American  forces  in  his  rear,  he  advanced  and  attacked  them 
(September  19,  1777).  Both  armies  fought  desperately  ;  neither 
could  claim  a  victory;  but  as  the  British  lost  two  men  to  our 
one,  their  advance  was  checked. 

The  second  battle  (October  7,  1777)  was  even  more  desper 
ately  contested  than  the  first.  Morgan  with  his  famous  sharp 
shooters  opened  the  fight  on  our  side.  Gates  did  not  show 
himself  on  the  field,  as  in  fact  he  had  not  done  in  the  previous 
battle.  Arnold  had  quarreled  with  Gates  and  had  thrown  up 
his  command ;  but  he  now  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  former 
division  and  rushed  on  to  victory  amid  the  cheers  of  the  men 
for  their  old  leader. 

Burgoyne  fell  back  to  Saratoga,  six  miles  distant,  and  there 
(October  17,  1777)  surrendered.  This  was  the  first  great  victory 
gained  under  the  stars  and  stripes.  We  took  nearly  six  thousand 
prisoners  and  a  large  quantity  of  arms.  When  the  news  reached 
London  it  moved  Pitt,  now  Lord  Chatham,  to  declare  in  Parlia 
ment,  "  My  lords, you  cannot  conquer  America."  Then  he  added, 
"  If  I  were  an  American,  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  for 
eign  troop  was  landed  in  my  country  I  never  would  lay  down  my 
arms  —  never  —  never  —  never  !  "  1 

Burgoyne's  surrender  was  the  turning  point  of  the  Revolution.2 
It  had  three  momentous  results  :  (i)  it  completely  broke  up  the 
plans  of  the  British  government  (§  214)  respecting  the  war; 
(2)  it  secured  for  us  the  open  aid  of  England's  old  and  power 
ful  enemy,  France ;  (3)  it  inspired  the  whole  Continental  army 
with  new  hope. 

219.  Treaties  with  France;  Valley  Forge.  The  news  of  Bur 
goyne's  surrender  filled  England  with  consternation  and  France 

1  See  C.  K.  Adams'  Representative  British  Orations,  I,  120,  125,  126. 
i  See  Creasy's  Decisive  Battles  of  the  World. 


212          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1778 

with  delight.  In  the  spring  (May  2,  1778)  a  messenger  arrived 
from  the  French  capital  bringing  two  treaties,  —  one  of  com 
merce  and  good  will,  the  other  of  defensive  alliance,  securing 
to  us  the  help  of  a  French  fleet.  Franklin,  who  acted  as  our 
chief  agent  in  Paris,  had  achieved  a  diplomatic  triumph.  He 
fought  for  us  in  France  as  sturdily  and  steadily  as  Washington 
fought  for  us  at  home. 

America  resounded  with  rejoicings  over  the  glad  tidings; 
Lafayette  grasped  Washington's  hand  and  shed  tears  of  joy. 
Washington  ordered  a  salute  of  thirteen  guns  to  celebrate  the 
event,  and  the  hillsides  of  Valley  Forge  echoed  with  the  enthu 
siastic  hurrahs  of  the  Continental  army  as  they  cheered  the  king 
of  France. 

Meanwhile  our  men  at  Valley  Forge  were  in  wretched  plight. 
They  had  just  passed  through  a  winter  of  unparalleled  hardship 
and  suffering.  Out  of  eight  thousand  troops  nearly  three  thou 
sand  were  "  barefoot  and  otherwise  naked."  Steuben  said, 
"  No  European  army  could  be  kept  together  a  week  in  such 
a  state."  Washington  wrote  to  Congress  that  unless  relief  came 
the  army  must  either  "starve,  dissolve,  or  disperse  in  order  to 
obtain  subsistence  "  ;  but  John  Adams  declared  that  Congress 
was  "torn  to  pieces  with  disputes  about  office." 

The  truth  is  that  our  men  were  sacrificed  to  the  mismanagement 
or  the  timidity  of  Congress.  There  was  no  lack  of  provisions  or 
of  coarse  clothing  in  the  country,  and  at  the  very  time  the  Con 
tinental  army  was  freezing  and  starving  on  the  bleak  hillsides  of 
Valley  Forge  the  enemy's  forces  in  Philadelphia,  as  elsewhere, 
could  buy  from  the  farmers  all  the  food  and  fuel  they  wanted. 

220.  The  Conway  plot;  Steuben' s  services;  English  peace 
commissioners;  battle  of  Monmouth.  While  the  American  com 
mander  was  pleading  for  help  for  his  men,  Conway  (§  201), 
inspector  general  of  the  army,  was  plotting  with  Gates  to 
secure  Washington's  overthrow.  Fortunately,  the  correspond 
ence  between  them  leaked  out  and  the  conspiracy  ended  in 
ignominious  failure. 


CONTINENTAL   AND    STATE    MONEY 


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1778]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        213 

Baron  Steuben  (§  201)  was  then  appointed  to  Conway's  place. 
Steuben  had  learned  the  art  of  war  under  Frederick  the  Great. 
He  drilled  the  men  day  after  day,  swearing  in  German  and  in 
broken  English  at  their  awkward  maneuvers,  until  he  trained 
these  plain  farmers  and  farmers'  sons  to  move  with  the  precision 
of  military  machines. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  (§200)  now  (May  18,  1778)  succeeded 
Howe  in  command  of  the  British  forces.  England,  alarmed  at 
the  French  treaty,  made  a  third  and  last  attempt  at  conciliation 
(§§  197,  210),  and  sent  over  peace  commissioners.  They  were 
empowered  to  offer  the  people  of  the  United  States  exemption 
''forever  from  direct  taxation  by  Great  Britain,"  full  power 
"to  govern  themselves,"  representation  in  Parliament,  — in  fact, 
almost  everything  short  of  separation  and  actual  independence.1 
Congress  rejected  the  offer  and  the  commissioners  replied  by  a 
proclamation  threatening  a  war  of  devastation  and  terror. 

Clinton  knew  that  the  French  fleet  was  on  its  way  to  America ; 
fearing  that  it  might  blockade  Philadelphia,  he  proceeded  to 
evacuate  that  city  and  move  to  New  York. 

Not  having  ships  enough  to  transport  his  army  of  seventeen 
thousand  men,  he  resolved  to  march  across  New  Jersey.  Wash 
ington,  with  a  force  about  equal  to  that  of  the  British,  followed 
the  retreating  enemy.  He  overtook  them  at  Monmouth  (June 
28,  1778).  The  treacherous  Lee  (§  212),  who  had  been  ex 
changed  and  had  returned  to  us,  wanted  to  secure  the  retreat 
of  the  English  "  on  velvet."  He  tried  to  persuade  a  council  of 
war  not  to  attack  the  enemy.  His  attempt  failed ;  Washington 
ordered  him  to  begin  the  fight.  Instead  of  obeying  orders  he 
fell  back.  At  this  critical  moment  the  commander  in  chief  rode 
up.  "What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this,  sir?  "  demanded  Washington 
in  a  terrible  voice.  Lee  stammered  out  an  excuse.  Washington 
ordered  him  to  the  rear,  rallied  the  retreating  men,  and  drove 
the  British  from  the  field. 

1  See  Hildreth's  United  States,  III,  239,  248;  Almon's  Remembrancer,  144;  see 
also  Patrick  Henry's  stirring  letter  in  Hart's  American  History  by  Contemporaries, 
II,  No.  203. 


214        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1778-1779 

This  was  the  last  important  battle  fought  at  the  North.  Had 
Lee  done  his  duty,  it  might  perhaps  have  been  the  last  battle  of 
the  Revolution. 

A  court-martial  convicted  Lee  of  "  an  unnecessary,  disorderly, 
and  shameful  retreat,"  and  suspended  him  "from  any  command 
in  the  armies  of  the  United  States  "  for  one  year.  Later,  Congress 
dismissed  him  from  the  army  and  he  died  in  disgrace. 

221.  Prospects   of  the   Revolution   (1778);  Tory  and  Indian 
raids ;  Washington  retaliates.    The  prospects  of   the  success  of 
the   Revolution  now  looked  decidedly  brighter.     In  future  the 
British  must  not  only  fight  us  but  fight  our  French  allies  besides. 

Clinton  established  his  headquarters  in  New  York  City  and 
Washington  extended  his  lines  from  the  heights  of  Morristown, 
New  Jersey,  to  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1778  bands  of  Tories  (§  203) 
and  Indians  of  the  Six  Nations  devastated  Wyoming  Valley,  Penn 
sylvania  (July  3,  1778),  and  Cherry  Valley,  New  York  (Novem 
ber  10,  1778).  The  cruelties  perpetrated  in  these  raids  were 
so  horrible  that  even  Brant,  the  Mohawk  leader,  was  shocked ; 
he  said,  "  I  have  those  with  me  who  are  more  savage  than  the 
savages  themselves." 

Washington  (1779)  sent  General  Sullivan  to  retaliate.  He 
totally  destroyed  the  Indian  settlements  of  the  Onondagas, 
Cayugas,  and  Senecas  in  western  New  York. 

222.  The  expedition  of  George  Rogers  Clark  (1778-1779) ;  Kas- 
kaskia.    While  these  events  were  occurring  in  New  York,  George 
Rogers  Clark  1  of  Virginia  had  undertaken  no  less  a  task  than 
the  conquest  of  the  country  northwest  of  the  Ohio.     That  vast 
wilderness  was  then  held  by  the  British  forts  at  Detroit,  Vin- 
cennes,   Kaskaskia,  and  Cahokia.     All  but   Detroit,   which  was 
under  the  command  of  the  British  Colonel  Hamilton,  were  at 
that  time  garrisoned  by  French  and  half-breeds  in  the  pay  of 
the  English. 

1  See  Winsor's  Westward  Movement,  ch.  viii ;  Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West, 
II,  ch.  ii,  iii ;  Thwaites'  George  Rogers  Clark. 


1778-1779]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION    215 


The  whole  region  was  then  claimed  by  Virginia  as  part  of 
its  original  charter  domain  (§  40).  Aided  by  Patrick  Henry, 
then  governor  of  that  state,  Clark  collected  a  small  body  of 
frontiersmen  as  resolute  as  himself.  These  hardy  pioneers  rec 
ognized  no  authority  higher  than  that  of  Virginia.  They  proposed 
to  fight  on  their  own  responsibility  and  for  their  own  ends,  quite 
independent  of  either  Washington  or  Congress. 

Embarking  at  Pittsburg  (June  26,  i778)>  tneY  dropped  down 
the  Ohio  a  distance  of  nearly  a  thousand  miles  through  the 
unbroken  forest,  and  landed  at  a  point  in  what  is  now  southern 
Illinois.  Clark  and  his  men  then  marched  across  the  country 
to  Fort  Kaskaskia  (July  5, 
1778).  A  dance  was  in 
progress  at  the  fort  when 
Clark  entered  it  unper- 
ceived.  When  he  was  dis 
covered  there  was  a  shout 
of  alarm.  "  Keep  on  with 
your  merriment,"  said 
Clark,  "  but  remember  that 
you  now  dance  under  Vir- 

MAP  SHOWING  THE  FORTS  AT  DETROIT, 

KASKASKIA,   AND   VINCENNES,    WITH 
THE  LINE  OF  CLARK'S  MARCH 


ginia,  not  Great  Britain." 

223.  Cahokia ;  Vincennes ; 
Clark  takes  the  fort;  con 
quest  of  the  Northwest.  Clark  won  the  good  will  of  Father  Gibault, 
the  French  Catholic  priest  at  Kaskaskia,  and  through  his  influence 
the  French  garrisons  at  Cahokia  and  at  Vincennes  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  republic  and  hoisted  the  American  flag. 

Meanwhile  Colonel  Hamilton  (§  222)  had  retaken  Vincennes. 
Clark  with  a  little  band  of  tenscore  men  at  once  set  out  from 
Kaskaskia  to  get  it  back  again.  It  was  a  winter  march  (February 
7-25,  1779)  of  about  two  hundred  miles.  The  latter  part  of 
the  way  lay  across  the  "drowned  lands"  of  the  Wabash.  The 
men,  nearly  dead  from  hunger,  had  to  wade  for  miles  through 
water  breast  deep  and  filled  with  floating  ice. 


216 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


[1779 


}»  ORKKET  IS. 


OR  T  H 

SEA 


After  a  sharp  fight  Clark  took  the  fort,  and  (February  25, 
1779)  soon  hoisted  the  stars  and  stripes  in  triumph.  When  the 
flag  of  the  republic  rose  above  the  fort  this  time  it  rose  to  stay, 
for  it  marked  the  end  of  British  authority  in  that  section  forever. 
The  Virginia  hero  and  his  followers  had  conquered  the  whole 
Northwest  below  the  British  fort  at  Detroit. 

224.  Captain  Paul  Jones  ;  the  British  on  the  Hudson  ;  Anthony 
Wayne.    A  few  months  later  came  glorious  news  from  Captain 
Paul  Jones,  the  first  man  to   hoist  the  stars  and  stripes  on  an 
American  war  ship  (§  109).     With  his  little  fleet  of  three  vessels 

—  one  a  half-rotten  old  hulk  —  he  had  captured  (September  23, 
1779)  two  British  men  of  war,  the  Serapis  and  the  Countess 
of  Scarborough,  off  the  east  coast  of 
England.  Thousands  of  excited  people 
watched  the  progress  of  the  battle  from 
the  promontory  of  Flamborough  Head. 
At  length  they  saw  the  English  ships 
strike  the  red  ensign  of  St.  George  to 
a  man  whom  they  loudly  denounced 
as  a  rebel  and  a  pirate. 

But  the  British  before  radically 
changing  their  war  plans  were  deter 
mined  to  make  one  more  effort  to 
obtain  control  of  the  Hudson.  They  .succeeded  in  getting  pos 
session  (June,  1779)  of  the  half-finished  American  works  at  Stony 
Point  and  Verplanck's  Point.  Anthony  Wayne  led  a  midnight 
expedition  (July  15,  1779)  against  the  first-named  fort  and  took 
it  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  It  was  a  very  brilliant  victory ;  but 
we  were  not  strong  enough  to  hold  the  works  permanently. 

225.  British    successes   in   the   far   South;    Charleston   taken 
(1780).    The   British   now  determined   to   transfer  active  mili 
tary  operations  to  the  far  South.     They  hoped  in  that  quarter  to 
receive  the  assistance  of  the  Loyalists  (§  203). 

An  expedition  sent  by  sea  had  already  captured  Savannah 
(December  29,  1778),  and  Augusta  was  next  taken.  Washington 


GEORGE    ROGERS    CLARK'S    LETTER 


1779-1780]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION    217 

sent  General  Lincoln  to  the  South,  but  he  failed  to  drive  the 
enemy  out  of  Augusta.  In  a  similar  attempt  on  Savannah  he  was 
badly  defeated  (October  9,  1779),  and  the  gallant  Pulaski  (§  201) 
was  killed. 

Early  the  next  spring  (1780)  Clinton  sailed  to  attack  Charles 
ton,  —  Lincoln's  headquarters.  After  a  siege  of  six  weeks  the 
town  surrendered  (May  12,  1780).  Clinton  took  more  than  five 
thousand  prisoners  and  property  valued  at  nearly  $1,500,000. 
The  British  commander  in  chief  returned  to  New  York  in  June 
(i  780).  He  left  Cornwallis  with  a  force  of  seven  or  eight  thousand 
troops  to  hold  Charleston  and  subdue  the  state. 

Cornwallis  issued  a  proclamation  warning  all  inhabitants  of 
South  Carolina  that  if  they  did  not  return  to  their  allegiance  to 
the  king  they  would  be  treated  as  rebels;  in  other  words,  he 
threatened  to  hang  them.  The  brutal  Colonel  Tarleton  had 
massacred  a  party  of  these  rebels  on  the  banks  of  the  Waxhaw, 
and  a  bitter  partisan  struggle  —  a  civil  war,  in  fact  —  now  began 
between  patriots  and  Tories  (§  203). 

226.  Gates  appointed  commander  at  the  South;  the  battle  of 
Camden.  The  most  important  point  in  the  interior  of  South  Caro 
lina  was  Camden.  It  was  a  great  center  for  roads  and  was  con 
sidered  "  the  key  between  the  North  and  South."  Washington 
had  sent  De  Kalb  (§  201)  with  a  small  body  of  men  to  aid  the 
patriots  of  South  Carolina  in  recovering  Camden  and  other  points 
in  the  interior.  Washington  hoped  to  secure  the  appointment  of 
Greene  to  the  general  command  of  the  southern  department,  but 
Congress  disregarded  his  wishes  and  appointed  (June  13,  1780) 
Gates  (§218). 

Gates  joined  De  Kalb  at  Hillsboro,  North  Carolina.  He  had 
about  three  thousand  men  fit  for  duty,  and  he  insisted  that 
this  "  grand  army,"  as  he  called  it,  should  at  once  march  on  to 
Camden,  where  Cornwallis,  unknown  to  the  American  general, 
had  arrived. 

Gates'  men  arrived  tired  out,  sick,  and  hungry  ;  but  he  at  once 
opened  the  battle  of  Camden  (August  16,  1780).  De  Kalb's 


2l8  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1780 

soldiers  fought  desperately,  but  most  of  the  militia  "  fled  without 
firing  a  shot."  This  was  not  strange,  for  raw  recruits  will  seldom 
stand  against  the  attack  of  regular  troops.  "  Two  thirds  of  the 
army,"  says  Gates,  "  ran  like  a  torrent."  Gates  himself  got  away 
as  fast  as  his  horse  could  carry  him,  and  did  not  fully  stop  until 
he  arrived  at  Charlotte,  sixty  miles  away.  From  Charlotte,  Gates, 
still  running  away  from  his  army,  sped  on  to  Hillsboro,  North 
Carolina.  This  singular  retreat  ended  his  military  career. 

227.  The  treason  of  Benedict  Arnold.  This  disaster  at  the 
South  was  followed  in  the  North  by  the  most  startling  and  the 
saddest  event  of  the  war,  —  the  treason  of  Benedict  Arnold. 

Notwithstanding  Arnold's  impetuous  bravery  and  his  splendid 
success  as  a  soldier  (§  218),  Congress  seemed  to  grudge  him  the 
honor  he  had  fairly  earned.  When  at  last  Congress  tardily  pro 
moted  him  (November  29,  1777)  to  the  rank  of  senior  major 
general,  Washington  called  it  "  an  act  of  necessary  justice." 

Two  years  later,  while  in  command  in  Philadelphia,  Arnold  was 
charged  with  fraudulent  dealing  and  with  other  "  illegal  and  offen 
sive  acts."  At  his  own  urgent  request  he  was  tried  by  court- 
martial  (December  19,  1779).  No  criminal  intention  was  proven, 
but  the  court  sentenced  him  to  receive  a  reprimand  from  the 
commander  in  chief.  When  he  administered  it  Washington 
chose  words  which  seemed  rather  to  compliment  than  rebuke 
the  offender.  Yet  at  that  very  time  Arnold  was  secretly  carrying 
on  a  treasonable  correspondence  with  Clinton. 

The  next  summer  (1780)  Arnold  sought  and  obtained  the  com 
mand  at  West  Point,  —  the  most  important  American  post  on  the 
Hudson.  His  object  in  getting  the  position  was  to  turn  it  over 
to  the  enemy.  The  price  for  which  he  sold  himself  and  betrayed 
his  country  was  the  promise  of  an  appointment  as  colonel  in  the 
British  army  (with  the  brevet  of  brigadier  general)  and  something 
over  $30,000  in  cash. 

Fortunately  for  the  American  cause,  the  plot  to  surrender  West 
Point  was  discovered  through  the  arrest  of  Andre',  the  British 
officer  by  whom  Arnold  was  sending  plans  of  the  fort  to  Clinton. 


REVOLUTION 

THE  SOUTHERN   STATES 


v.    ..y&SP'* 


1780-1781]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION    219 

On  his  way  back  from  West  Point  Andre*  was  stopped  by  some 
of  our  men  and  held  as  a  spy.  Arnold  learned  of  his  capture  and 
instantly  fled  to  the  British  lines. 

Andre  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  hanged,  while  the  man 
who  had  used  him  as  his  tool  issued  a  proclamation  urging  all 
American  soldiers  to  follow  his  own  traitorous  example.  Later,  he 
led  marauding  expeditions  into  Virginia  and  burned  Richmond ; 
his  last  blow  was  directed  against  the  towns  of  New  London  and 
Groton  on  the  coast  of  his  native  state  of  Connecticut.  Arnold 
died  in  London  nearly  twenty  years  after  the  United  States  had 
achieved  its  independence.  The  motto  on  his  family  crest  was 
the  single  word  "  Glory  "  ;  long  before  he  died  he  erased  that 
motto  with  his  own  hand,  and  in  its  place  wrote  the  word 
"  Despair." 

228.  Dark  days;  light  at  the  South;  victory  at  Kings  Moun 
tain  (1780).  Arnold's  treason  marks  what  was  perhaps  the  darkest 
period  of  the  Revolution.  The  enemy,  victorious  at  the  South, 
were  ravaging  Virginia  at  will,  and  the  republic  was  bankrupt. 
Continental  money  had  sunk  so  low  in  value  that  a  soldier's  pay 
amounted  in  fact  to  only  thirty-three  cents  a  month,  and  a 
colonel's  pay  would  not  buy  oats  for  his  horse. 

The  winter  which  followed  (1780-1781)  was  one  of  terrible 
severity,  and  the  men  suffered  even  worse  hardships  at  Morris- 
town  than  they  had  at  Valley  Forge  (§219).  Poorly  clothed, 
half-fed,  and  miserably  paid,  a  part  of  them  rose  in  revolt. 
Clinton  tried  to  tempt  them  to  desert,  but  they  rejected  his 
offers  with  scorn,  saying,  "  We  will  not  turn  Arnolds." 

But  in  this  period  of  gloom  a  gleam  of  light  flashed  out  in  the 
South.  In  the  autumn  (1780)  Cornwallis  sent  Major  Ferguson, 
a  brave  and  efficient  officer,  to  cut  off  a  body  of  patriots  then 
retreating  from  Georgia  to  the  highlands  of  North  Carolina. 
Suddenly  Ferguson  found  that  he  was  in  danger  of  being  cut  off 
himself  by  a  body  of  mountaineers  and  backwoodsmen. 

The  British  commander  fell  back  to  Kings  Mountain,  a  high 
ridge  on  the  boundary  line  between  the  Carolinas.  There  he 


220        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

took  his  stand,  declaring  that  not  all  the  rebels  outside  of  the 
bottomless  pit  could  drive  him  to  retreat. 

The  little  American  force  calling  itself  the  "army  of  the 
West"  attacked  the  British  on  all  sides  (October  7,  1780). 
Ferguson  had  fewer  men,  but  had  the  advantage  of  position. 
He  and  his  soldiers  fought  like  tigers,  driving  the  Americans 
back  again  and  again ;  but  our  final  assault  was  successful,  Fer 
guson  was  killed,  and  the  enemy  surrendered. 

The  victory  proved  to  be  the  turning  point  of  the  war  in  the 
South.  Cornwallis  fell  back  to  Winnsboro,  South  Carolina, 
to  wait  for  Clinton  to  send  reinforcements.  Many  of  the  Caro 
linians,  encouraged  by  the  patriot  victory,  joined  Marion's  (§  135) 
ranks  and  did  excellent  service  in  the  cause  of  liberty. 

229.  Greene  takes  command  in  the  Carolinas  ;  disposition  of  his 
forces  ;  battle  of  Cowpens.  Washington  now  sent  General  Greene 
to  the  South.  He  arrived  (December  7,  1780)  at  Charlotte, 
North  Carolina,  to  take  command  of  his  "  shadow  of  an  army," 
—  for  his  whole  force  fit  for  duty  amounted  to  only  eight  hun 
dred  men. 

Greene  divided  this  "  shadow "  into  two  nearly  equal  parts. 
One  of  them  he  led  to  a  strong  position  at  the  base  of  Cheraw 
Hill.  There  they  could  cooperate  with  Marion  and  threaten 
Cornwallis'  communication  with  the  coast.  The  other  division 
Greene  sent  westward  under  Daniel  Morgan,  "then  the  best  com 
mander  of  light  troops  in  the  world."  Morgan  was  to  threaten 
the  British  garrisons  at  the  important  posts  of  Ninety  Six  and 
Augusta. 

Cornwallis,  after  he  received  reinforcements,  had  nearly  five 
thousand  well-equipped  troops;  but  he  found  himself  between 
two  fires,  —  Greene  and  Marion  on  one  side  and  Morgan  on  the 
other.  The  British  commander  now  sent  Colonel  Tarleton  (§  225), 
"  his  right  arm,"  with  over  a  thousand  troops  to  crush  Morgan  or 
compel  him  to  retreat.  The  two  forces  met  (January  17,  1781) 
at  the  cattle  pastures  called  the  Cowpens,  a  little  south  of  Kings 
Mountain. 


1781]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        221 

Tarleton  was  completely  routed  and  lost  more  than  two  thirds 
of  his  men.  This  defeat  struck  Cornwallis  as  hard  a  blow  as 
Burgoyne  had  received  at  Bennington  (§  216).  The  battle  of 
Kings  Mountain  had  clipped  one  wing  of  the  British  army; 
now  Morgan  had  clipped  the  other. 

230.  Greene's  retreat;  Steele's  Tavern;  the  race  for  the  Dan. 
Morgan,  knowing  that  Cornwallis  with  the  whole  British  force 
would  soon  be  in  pursuit  of  him,  now  retreated  northward. 
Greene  sent  his  men  forward  to  join  Morgan's  in  North  Carolina. 
Cornwallis,  by  a  rapid  movement,  crossed  the  Catawba,  scatter 
ing  the  American  militia  that  had  gathered  there  to  oppose  his 
passage. 

With  a  heavy  heart  Greene  rode  on  to  Steele's  Tavern  at 
Salisbury.  "What !  alone,  General?"  asked  his  friend,  Dr.  Read, 
as  the  American  commander  dismounted.  "  Yes,"  answered 
Greene,  "  tired,  hungry,  alone,  and  penniless."  Mrs.  Steele,  the 
landlord's  wife,  heard  the  reply.  She  set  a  smoking  hot  break 
fast  before  the  weary  soldier,  then  cautiously  shutting  the  door 
behind  her,  she  held  out  a  little  bag  of  silver  to  him  in  each 
hand;  "Take  these,"  said  she,  "for  you  need  them,  and  1  can 
do  without  them." 

A  portrait  of  George  III  was  hanging  over  the  fireplace  — 
placed  there  when  Americans  loved  to  call  him  their  king. 
Greene  turned  the  face  of  the  picture  to  the  wall  and  wrote 
on  the  back  of  it,  "  Hide  thy  face,  George,  and  blush." 

A  few  days  later,  the  men  that  Greene  had  sent  forward 
united  with  Morgan's  at  Guilford  Court  House  (now  Greens 
boro),  North  Carolina.  Knowing  that  Cornwallis  was  in  hard 
pursuit  of  him,  Greene  himself  hurried  forward  with  his  force  to 
cross  the  Dan.  The  American  commander  won  the  race  and 
succeeded  (February  14,  1781)  in  crossing  the  stream  then 
swollen  to  a  torrent  by  heavy  rains.  The  British  came  up  just 
as  the  last  boat  had  reached  the  opposite  bank.  Cornwallis 
found  an  unfordable  river  in  front  of  him  and  not  a  boat  to 
l)e  had. 


222          THE    STUDENT'S    AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1781 

231.  Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House  (1781);  Cornwallis' 
retreat  to  Wilmington;  Hobkirk's  Hill;  Ninety  Six;  Eutaw 
Springs.  Greene,  having  obtained  reinforcements,  now  had  nearly 
twice  as  many  men  as  Cornwallis;  but  they  were  largely  raw 
recruits,  wretchedly  armed,  and  short  of  provisions,  while  the 
force  under  Cornwallis  was  made  up  of  veterans.  The  American 
commander  recrossed  the  Dan  and  (March  15,  1781)  fought  the 
battle  of  Guilford  Court  House  (Greensboro).  Cornwallis  won 
the  day,  but  lost  so  many  men  that  he  was  forced  to  retreat 
to  Wilmington,  where  a  British  fleet  had  established  a  depot  of 
supplies. 

A  little  later,  Greene  astonished  Cornwallis  by  suddenly  moving 
back  to  South  Carolina  to  fall  on  the  British  force  left  there  in 
charge  of  Lord  Rawdon.  This  was  too  much,  and  Cornwallis 
wrote  (April  23,  1781),  "My  situation  is  very  distressing." 
Finally,  not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  he  decided  to  advance 
into  Virginia  and  unite  with  the  British  forces  there. 

Shortly  afterward,  Greene  met  and  fought  Rawdon  (April  25, 
1781)  at  Hobkirk's  Hill,  just  outside  of  Camden.  Rawdon  gained 
the  day,  but  as  Major  Henry  Lee  and  Marion  had  cut  his  com 
munication  with  Charleston,  the  British  commander  had  to  aban 
don  Camden  and  retreat.  Greene  summarized  his  experiences 
in  a  letter  to  Washington,  saying,  "  We  fight,  get  beat,  and  fight 
again."  He  next  began  the  siege  of  the  British  post  at  Ninety 
Six,  but  failed  to  take  the  fort,  and  shortly  after  fell  back  to  the 
hills  of  Santee  to  refresh  his  men. 

The  southern  campaigns  of  the  Revolution,  below  Virginia, 
ended  with  the  engagement  at  Eutaw  Springs  (September  8, 
1781).  Greene  said  of  this  battle,  "It  was  by  far  the  most 
obstinate  fight  I  ever  saw."  Both  sides  claimed  the  victory. 
Practically  Eutaw  resulted  in  success  for  the  Americans,  for  the 
British,  unable  to  hold  the  field,  fled  to  Charleston  and  shut 
themselves  up  there. 

Greene  had  never  gained  a  victory  in  the  South,  yet,  following 
Washington's  example,  he  had  exhausted  and  baffled  the  enemy. 


1781]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        223 

More  than   this,  with  the  help   of   Marion,  Sumter,   and   other 
partisan  leaders,  he  had  recovered  possession  of  the  Carolinas. 

232 .  Cornwallis  enters  Virginia  ;  ravages  the  country ;  Lafay 
ette's   movements ;  Yorktown.    Cornwallis,    in  pursuance  of  his 
plan  (§  231),  had  reached  Petersburg,  Virginia  (May  20,  1781), 
and  had  increased  his  force  to  about  seven  thousand  men.    The 
British  commander  was  confronted  by  Lafayette  (§201),  who  was 
waiting  for  Wayne  to  arrive  with  reinforcements. 

Cornwallis  (May  20  to  June  26,  1781)  sent  out  a  force  of  a 
thousand  cavalry,  mounted  on  Virginia  race  horses,  to  ravage  the 
country.  They  seized  or  destroyed  about  $15,000,000  worth  of 
property. 

The  British  commander  laughed  at  Lafayette  and  boastingly 
wrote,  "The  boy  cannot  escape  me."  It  so  happened,  how 
ever,  that  "the  boy"  intercepted  Cornwallis'  letter  and  not 
only  managed  to  escape  him  but  seriously  harassed  all  his  move 
ments.  At  length,  acting  in  obedience  to  what  he  considered 
imperative  orders  from  Clinton,  Cornwallis,  with  his  seven 
thousand  troops,  retired  (July  30,  1781)  to  the  peninsula  of 
Yorktown. 

233.  Washington   prepares   to   attack   Cornwallis;    what   the 
French  did.    Washington  had  been  planning  an  attack  on  New 
York.    He  now  pressed  De  Grasse,  who  commanded  a  powerful 
French  fleet  in  the  West  Indies,  to  come  to  his  help.    De  Grasse 
decided  that  he  would  sail  not  for  New  York  but  for  Chesapeake 
Bay.     This  fact  changed  Washington's  plans  (August  17,  1781), 
and  with  the  cooperation  of  the  French  commander  he  resolved 
to  strike  Cornwallis  instead  of  Clinton. 

Count  Rochambeau's  army  of  four  thousand  French  regulars 
had  been  stationed  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  since  1780.  The 
count  now  moved  to  the  vicinity  of  New  York  to  act  with  the 
Continental  army  in  its  attack  on  Yorktown.  Less  than  six 
months  had  passed  since  the  American  commander  expressed 
grave  doubts  whether  he  could  manage  to  keep  the  army  together 
for  the  summer.  He  then  wrote,  "We  are  at  the  end  of  our 


224          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1781 

tether  .  .  .  now  or  never  deliverance  must  come."  At  last 
deliverance  had  come. 

Washington  contrived,  as  he  said,  to  completely  "  misguide  and 
bewilder  "  Clinton,  who  was  made  to  believe  that  the  Americans 
were  getting  ready  to  attack  New  York.  At  length,  when  every 
thing  was  prepared,  Washington  suddenly  broke  camp  (August 
19,  1781).  Leaving  Heath  with  four  thousand  men  to  hold 
West  Point,  he  set  out  with  his  combined  French  and  American 
army  of  six  thousand  troops  to  march  across  the  country. 

But  when  the  great  movement  was  actually  in  progress,  and 
part  of  the  force  had  reached  Philadelphia,  a  formidable  obstacle 
arose.  The  men  demanded  their  pay.  Washington  begged  Robert 
Morris  (§  213)  to  raise  some  "hard  money"  for  him.  Morris  bor 
rowed  $20,000  of  Count  Rochambeau ;  the  sight  of  the  bright 
silver  coin  put  the  Continental  army  in  good  humor  and  smoothed 
the  way  onward.  Fortunately,  too,  just  at  this  juncture  Colonel 
Laurens  arrived  at  Boston  with  2,500,000  francs  given  by  the 
French  king  to  the  American  cause. 

By  this  time  Clinton  had  discovered  Washington's  real  object, 
but  it  was  too  late  for  him  to  help  Cornwallis.  When  the  com 
bined  French  and  American  armies  arrived  at  the  head  of  Chesa 
peake  Bay,  French  transports  (September  17,  1781)  conveyed 
them  to  Yorktown.  Here  Washington  was  joined  by  Lafayette's 
men,  by  a  body  of  Virginia  militia,  and  by  three  thousand  French 
soldiers  furnished  by  De  Grasse.  His  total  force  numbered  nine 
thousand  Americans  and  seven  thousand  French. 

234.  The  siege  and  fall  of  Yorktown  (1781).  On  the  water 
side  the  powerful  French  fleet  effectually  cut  off  Cornwallis  from 
all  hope  of  help  or  of  escape  in  that  direction. 

On  the  land  side  the  British  general  saw  himself  hemmed  in 
by  a  force  of  sixteen  thousand,  or  more  than  double  his  own 
army.  The  besieging  force  began  at  once  (September  30,  1781) 
to  throw  up  works.  Hour  by  hour  they  crept  nearer  to  the 
doomed  town.  On  the  tenth  day  (October  9,  1781)  Washington 
himself  applied  the  match  to  the  first  American  battery. 


1781-1783]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION    225 

From  that  time  onward,  for  more  than  a  week,  a  circle  of 
sixty  cannon  and  mortars  rained  an  incessant  storm  of  shot, 
shell,  and  red-hot  balls  against  the  defenses  of  Cornwallis.  The 
British  general  could  make  but  a  feeble  reply ;  his  stock  of  artil 
lery  ammunition  was  fast  running  short,  and  his  half-completed 
fortifications  were  crumbling  to  pieces.  Of  his  garrison  only  a 
little  over  three  thousand  men  were  fit  for  duty ;  the  rest  were 
lying  sick  or  wounded  in  hospital,  or  were  worn  out  by  fatigue. 

On  October  17  (1781)  Cornwallis  sent  out  a  white  flag  and  asked 
for  terms.  It  was  exactly  four  years  since  Burgoyne  had  surren 
dered  at  Saratoga  (§218).  The  next  day,  October  18  (1781), 
the  British  garrison  with  colors  cased  marched  out  between  the 
lines  of  the  American  and  French  forces,  which  formed  an  avenue 
more  than  a  mile  in  length.  The  captive  army  moved  with  slow 
and  solemn  steps,  their  drums  beating  the  quaint  but  highly 
appropriate  tune  of  "The  World's  Upside  Down." 

235.  Effect  of  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  in  Eng 
land;  treaty  of  peace  (1783).  When  the  news  of  the  surrender 
reached  London,  Lord  North,  the  English  prime  minister,  threw 
up  his  arms  as  though  a  cannon  ball  had  struck  him,  and  cried 
out  wildly,  "  O  God,  it  is  all  over  ! "  He  was  right,  for  although 
desultory  fighting  continued  for  a  time,  yet  the  fall  of  Yorktown 
really  ended  the  war. 

Both  sides  had  long  been  weary  of  the  struggle.  The  spring  after 
Cornwallis  surrendered,  the  House  of  Commons  resolved  to  "  con 
sider  as  enemies  to  his  majesty  and  the  country"  all  who  should 
urge  the  fui  ther  prosecution  of  the  war  against  the  Americans. 

Before  the  close  of  that  year  a  provisional  treaty  of  peace  was 
made  (1782).  On  the  igth  of  April,  1783,  just  eight  years  to 
a  day  after  the  battle  of  Lexington,  Washington  issued  an  order 
to  the  Continental  army  declaring  the  War  of  the  Revolution  at 
an  end.  The  soldiers  had  received  no  pay  for  a  great  length  of 
time  and  they  were  in  sore  need  of  money;  but  Congress,  as 
Washington  said,  sent  them  home  "  without  a  farthing  in  their 
pockets." 


226          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1783 

In  making  the  final  treaty  of  peace  the  main  points  which  we 
demanded  were  :  (i)  the  full  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
the  thirteen  states ;  (2)  the  recognition  of  the  Mississippi  River 
as  our  western  boundary ;  (3)  the  recognition  of  our  right  to 
fish  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland.  The  English,  on  the  other 
hand,  wished  (i)  to  limit  our  western  boundary  to  the  line  of 
the  Alleghenies ;  (2)  to  shut  us  out  from  any  part  of  the  cod 
fisheries ;  (3)  they  insisted  on  our  making  compensation  to  the 
Tories  for  their  loss  of  property. 

Our  commissioners,  Adams,  Franklin,  and  Jay,  refused  to 
accept  these  conditions,  but  agreed  that  the  last  demand  should 
be  referred  to  the  legislatures  of  the  states,  with  a  recommenda 
tion  that  they  give  it  favorable  consideration.  The  result  was 
that  when  the  final  treaty1  was  signed  at  Paris,  September  3, 
1783,  it  fully  recognized  all  the  chief  points  which  we  claimed, 
namely  :  (i)  the  independence  of  the  American  Republic  ;  (2)  the 
Mississippi  River  as  our  western  boundary ;  (3)  our  right  to  fish 
on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland. 

236.  Articles  of  Confederation  ;  Maryland  and  the  western  land 
claims.  Meanwhile  the  United  States  had  adopted  (1781)  the 
plan  of  confederation2  first  reported  to  Congress  in  1776  (§  209). 

Congress  voted  (1777)  to  accept  the  proposed  constitution,3 
but  several  of  the  states  found  serious  objections  to  it.  In  order 
that  the  Articles  of  Confederation  should  go  into  effect,  it  was 
necessary  that  all  of  the  states  should  formally  ratify  them. 
Finally,  all  agreed  to  do  so  except  Maryland.  She  positively 
refused  unless  the  seven  states  which  claimed  western  territory 
(§§  40,  173)  should  cede  their  claims  to  the  United  States  for 
the  general  good. 

For  a  long  time  none  of  the  states  claiming  western  lands 
would  agree  to  give  them  up.  This  difficulty  threatened  to  pre 
vent  the  adoption  of  any  regular  system  of  national  government. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  3. 

2  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  III,  Nos.  37-41. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  2. 


THE  UN1TJ£1>  STATES  0. 

At  the  Close  of  the  Revolution     ^ 

Showing-  Western  Land  Claims  of  States 

and  the  Boundaries  fixed  by  Treaty  of  1783 

See  also  Table  of  Boundaries 


1781-1787]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION     22/ 

At  length,  however,  New  York  offered  to  surrender  her  claim. 
Connecticut  and  Virginia  had  already  virtually  promised  to  do 
the  same.  On  the  day  that  New  York  made  her  offer  Maryland 
signed  the  Articles,  thus  making  the  Confederation  complete 
(March  i,  1781). 

The  whole  immense  northwestern  territory,  extending  *to  the 
Mississippi,  was  now  practically  secured  to  the  nation.  This 
fact  greatly  strengthened  the  bonds  of  the  new  republic  and 
promised  to  guarantee  its  permanency  and  its  growth.  Later 
(1787-1802),  North  Carolina  and  Georgia  ceded  their  western 
territory  (see  map  facing  page  226)  to  the  United  States,  but  with 
the  provision  that  slavery  should  not  be  prohibited  in  the  ceded 
territory.  Congress  accepted  this  stipulation  without  debate. 
South  Carolina,  having  but  a  very  narrow  strip  to  cede,  made 
no  conditions,  since  the  land  she  gave  would  of  necessity  be 
incorporated  with  the  slave  states. 

237.  The  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  Northwest  Ter 
ritory  (1787).  After  New  York,  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  and 
Connecticut  had  completed  their  cessions  of  land  (1781-1787) 
the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  took  action.  By  the  famous 
Ordinance  of  1787,  "  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  West,"  it  erected 
a  government  for  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio.1 

Among  other  provisions  that  ordinance  enacted:  (i)  "that 
no  one  should  ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  wor 
ship  or  religious  sentiments  in  said  territory";  (2)  that  schools 
and  the  means  of  education  should  be  "  forever  encouraged  " 
(3)  slavery  was  absolutely  barred  out,  but  slaves  escaping  from 
their  masters  in  the  states  and  taking  refuge  in  the  Northwest 
Territory  were  to  be  seized  and  returned  to  their  owners. 

By  the  third  provision  this  celebrated  ordinance,  so  highly 
praised  by  Daniel  Webster,  did  two  opposite  things:  it  secured 
an  enormous  area  to  freedom,  but  it  first  granted  national  recog 
nition  and  protection  to  the  existence  of  slavery ;  (4)  finally,  the 

i  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  4;  Hart's  American  History  told  by 
Contemporaries,  III,  No.  46. 


228       THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY       [1781-1787 

ordinance  provided  that  all  states  formed  from  this  territory 
should  be  admitted  on  an  equal  footing  in  every  respect  with 
the  thirteen  original  states. 

From  that  magnificent  domain,  embracing  about  270,000 
square  miles,  the  five  great  and  powerful  states  of  Ohio,  Indi 
ana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  (together  with  eastern 
Minnesota)  were  formed  between  the  years  1803  and  1848. 

238.  Chief  provisions  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  (1781). 
The  Articles  of  Confederation  and  Perpetual  Union1  (§§209, 
236)  bound  the  states  (i)  to  "enter  into  a  firm  league  of  friend 
ship  with  each  other  "  ;   (2)  all  votes  in  Congress  were  to  be  cast 
by  states,  and  each  state,  whatever  its  number  of  delegates,  was 
to  have  but  "  one  vote  "  ;   (3)  Congress  reserved  the  power  of 
declaring  war  and  peace,  and  of  negotiating  treaties;   (4)  Con 
gress,  on  appeal,  was  to  decide  all  disputes  between  the  states ; 

(5)  the  regulation  of  commerce  and  the  raising  of  revenue  and 
taxes  were  left  entirely  to  the  control  of  the   separate   states ; 

(6)  the   power   to  coin   and  issue   money  was   shared   with   the 
states  by  the  general  government ;   (7)  Congress  had  authority 
to  appoint  a  Committee  of  the  States   to   manage  the  general 
affairs  of  the  nation  when  the  national  Legislature  was  not  in  ses 
sion  ;  (8)  the  final  article  declared  that  the  union  thus  formed 
should  be  "perpetual,"  and  forbade  that  any  change  should  here 
after  be  made  in  the  above  constitution  "  unless  such  alteration 
be  agreed  to  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  be  afterwards 
confirmed  by  the  legislature  of  every  state." 

239.  What  the  Confederation  accomplished ;  weakness  of   the 
government.    The  strong  point  of  the  Confederation  was  that  it 
early  recognized  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  union  of  the  states. 
Under  this  union,  imperfect  as  it  was,  the  Congress  of  the  Con 
federation  did  some  good  and  lasting  work,    (i)  It  made  the  treaty 
of  peace  with  England  (§  235)  and  several  other  treaties  with 
European  powers  ;  (2)  it  enacted  the  ordinance  for  the  government 
of  the  Northwest  Territory  (§  237)  ;  (3)  under  the  Confederation 

l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  2. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  was  divided  into  the  five 
llowingstatee  (with  Minnesota  east  of  the  Mississippi) :  1.  Ohio, 
mitted  1*03;  2.  Indiana,  admitted  181«  ;  3.  Illinois.. Admitted 


isl  4Michigan;admUted7^5  5.  Wiscon.in,  admitted  13* 
(See  note  on  map  of  U.  S.  1783.) 


THE 
NORTHWEST  TERRITORY,   1787 

South.  Carolina  ceded  lier  western 
territory  to  the  U.  S.  in  1787 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


1781-1787]      THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION    229 

North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia  took  the  first  steps 
toward  ceding  their  western  territory  to  the  nation  (§  236). 

On  the  other  hand,  it  had  fatal  defects.1  It  was  not  a  govern 
ment  established  by  the  people,  but  simply  a  league  of  sovereign 
and  practically  independent  states.  To  those  sovereign  states 
the  people  felt  that  they  owed  everything,  to  the  national  govern 
ment  they  owed  nothing.  Under  this  Confederation,  Congress 
consisted  of  a  single  House  which  represented  the  states  and 
the  states  only.  The  national  government  had  no  president ;  it 
was  "a  body  without  a  head."  Congress  could  advise,  request, 
implore,  but  it  could  not  command. 

In  this  last  point  lay  the  utter  weakness  of  the  whole  system. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  reconcile  contradictions,  —  to  grant  power 
and  at  the  same  time  to  withhold  it.  The  national  government 
could  make  treaties,  but  could  not  compel  their  observance.  It 
could  borrow  money,  but  could  not  guarantee  that  a  single  dollar 
of  the  debt  would  ever  be  paid.  It  could  recommend  taxation, 
but  could  not  enforce  it.  It  could  enact  laws,  but  could  not 
punish  those  who  refused  to  obey  them.  It  could  make  war,  but 
could  not  raise  a  single  soldier  to  fight  for  the  defense  of  the 
country.  In  short,  as  Judge  Story  has  aptly  said,  "Congress 
could  declare  everything,  but  could  do  nothing."  Its  whole 
attitude  was  that  of  a  suppliant. 

While  the  Revolution  was  in  progress  the  pressure  of  the  war 
forced  the  separate  states  to  stand  by  each  other ;  but  as  soon 
as  that  pressure  was  removed,  the  states,  like  a  barrel  that  had 
lost  its  hoops,  threatened  to  fall  to  pieces. 

240.  State  of  the  country  under  the  Confederation.  When 
peace  was  made,  Thomas  Paine  wrote  in  the  last  number  of  his 
American  Crisis,  "The  times  which  tried  men's  souls  are 
over."  It  was  a  great  mistake,  for  the  next  five  years  under 
the  Confederation  were  full  of  distress,  doubt,  discouragement, 
and  tendencies  to  disunion. 

i  See  Fiske's  Critical  Period  of  American  History ;  Hart's  American  History 
told  by  Contemporaries,  III,  Nos.  37-41. 


230        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1781-1787 

Instead  of  presenting  a  bold,  united  front  to  the  world,  we 
exhibited  the  pitiful  spectacle  of  thirteen  little  discordant  repub 
lics  bound  together  with  "a  rope  of  sand."  Hamilton  said, 
"There  is  scarcely  anything  that  can  wound  the  pride  or 
degrade  the  character  of  an  independent  nation  which  we  do 
not  experience ;  "  and  Washington  declared  that  we  were  moving 
upon  "  crutches  "  and  tottering  to  our  fall.1 

241.  Attempts  of  Congress  to  raise  money;  quarrels  about 
trade.  The  first  sign  of  this  fatal  weakness  was  seen  when  the 
government  made  an  attempt  to  pay  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolu 
tion  a  part  of  what  was  due  them.  Congress  was  "  penniless 
and  powerless."  It  called  on  the  states  to  contribute ;  some 
responded,  others  did  not.  All  national  demands  for  money 
were  followed  by  a  like  result.  Out  of  over  $6,000,000  called 
for  (1782-1786),  Congress  obtained  only  $1,000,000. 

An  attempt  was  made  (1782)  to  amend  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation  so  as  to  give  the  government  power  to  levy  a  five- 
per-cent  duty  on  imported  goods.  This  measure  was  proposed 
in  order  that  the  nation  might  get  means  to  discharge  a  part  of 
its  debt.  The  assent  of  all  the  states  was  required  ;  all  gave 
their  consent  but  Rhode  Island.  She  refused,  mainly  on  the 
ground  that  the  proposed  duty  would  fall  too  heavily  on  the 
chief  importing  states,  of  which  she  was  then  one. 

Later  (1786),  the  project  was  revived  in  a  more  limited  form. 
New  York  then  refused  unless  she  could  appoint  her  own  col 
lectors.  This  proviso  killed  the  plan,  and  Congress  had  to  go 
on  as  best  it  could  with  an  empty  treasury. 

The  country  was  anxious  to  make  a  commercial  treaty  with 
England,  but  that  power  refused  to  negotiate  with  a  nation 
which  was  a  nation  only  in  name.  Then  quarrels  sprang  up 
about  foreign  and  domestic  trade.  New  England  wished  to 
exclude  all  exports  and  imports  by  British  ships,  but  the  south 
ern  states,  having  no  ships  of  their  own,  demanded  why  they 

1  See  Washington's  Circular  Letters  to  the  Governors  of  the  States  (1783)  in 
the  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  15. 


1786-1787]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION     231 

should  be  asked  to  give  the  monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade  to 
the  North. 

The  states  which  had  no  seaports  had  to  pay  tolls  to  the 
states  where  the  goods  were  received.  New  Jersey  was  like  a 
cask  tapped  at  both  ends;  she  paid  toll  at  New  York  and  at 
Philadelphia.  North  Carolina  was  in  a  similar  predicament. 

New  \ork  laid  a  tax  on  the  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut 
market  boats.  New  Jersey  retaliated  by  taxing  the  lighthouse 
which  New  York  had  built  at  Sandy  Hook  on  the  Jersey  shore. 
Connecticut  towns  took  their  revenge  by  boycotting  New  York 
and  refusing  to  send  any  more  butter,  eggs,  and  early  vegetables 
to  that  city.1 

242.  Scarcity  of  Specie;  Shays'  rebellion  (1786).  At  the  same 
time  the  whole  country  was  distressed  by  the  need  of  "  hard 
money."  There  was  no  mint ;  with  the  exception  of  a  few  pen 
nies,  the  only  coins  in  circulation  were  worn  and  clipped  foreign 
pieces.  Most  of  the  states  kept  their  printing  presses  busy 
manufacturing  "  soft  money."  These  notes  were  constantly  fall 
ing  in  value.  Massachusetts  refused  to  issue  irredeemable  paper 
promises  to  pay,  and  her  country  people  felt  the  lack  of  specie 
all  the  more  keenly. 

The  total  public  and  private  debts  of  the  commonwealth 
averaged  about  $200  for  every  taxpayer.  Many  farmers  who 
had  fought  in  the  Revolution  could  not  satisfy  their  creditors. 
They  might  have  boxes  full  of  worthless  Continental  paper  cur 
rency  in  their  attics,  but  they  saw  their  cattle  driven  off  by 
order  of  the  courts  and  their  homesteads  sold  by  foreclosure  of 
mortgages. 

In  Worcester  County  and  the  counties  west  of  it  the  situa 
tion  became  desperate.  Excited  crowds  declared  that  all  prop 
erty  should  be  held  in  common,  since  all  had  fought  to  save  it. 
Then  came  the  cry :  "  Down  with  the  civil  courts  ! "  "  Down 
with  the  wicked  lawyers  !  "  "  Hurrah  for  '  soft  money'  and  plenty 
of  it ! " 

1  See  Fiske's  Critical  Period  in  American  History. 


232         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1786-1787 

Mobs  began  to  obstruct  the  sitting  of  courts.  Finally,  Daniel 
Shays,  who  had  been  a  captain  in  the  Continental  army,  led 
more  than  a  thousand  armed  men  to  Worcester  (1786),  took 
possession  of  the  courthouse,  and  dispersed  the  judges. 

Later  (1787),  he  attempted  to  capture  the  United  States 
arsenal  at  Springfield ;  blood  was  shed  and  the  state  govern 
ment  was  believed  to  be  in  serious  peril.  But  the  governor 
sent  a  strong  force  against  Shays  (1787)  and  the  rebellion 
collapsed.  Jefferson,  who  was  then  in  France,  made  light  of  the 
whole  matter.  He  declared  that  "  a  little  rebellion  now  and  then 
is  a  good  thing  .  .  .  and  as  necessary  in  the  political  world  as 
storms  in  the  physical  world."  l  But  Washington  and  all  friends 
of  order  who  were  on  the  spot  had  been  greatly  alarmed.  They 
feared  that  the  insurrection  would  spread  to  other  states,  and  they 
knew  that  Congress  was  practically  helpless.  Shays'  rebellion, 
however,  had  one  good  result :  it  emphasized  the  need  of  a  strong 
federal  government,  and  thus  helped  to  ensure  the  framing  of  a 
new  and  more  efficient  constitution. 

243.  Trouble  in  the  West;  threats  of  secession;  Jefferson's 
letter.  In  the  West  trouble  of  a  still  more  dangerous  kind  arose. 
Spain  closed  the  Mississippi  and  vowed  that  she  would  keep  it 
shut  until  she  secured  a  more  satisfactory  boundary  line  for  her 
American  possessions  in  the  south  (§267).  A  Kentucky  flat- 
boat  man,  disregarding  the  Spanish  decree,  started  boldly  down 
the  river  with  a  load  of  hardware.  The  Spanish  authorities  at 
Natchez  stopped  him,  seized  both  his  boat  and  cargo  (1786), 
and  left  him  to  get  back  home  on  foot  through  the  wilderness  as 
best  he  could. 

The  impetuous  spirit  of  the  Kentucky  settlers  was  roused. 
They  swore  that  if  the  river  was  not  opened  they  would  raise 
an  army  of  backwoods  riflemen,  who  would  force  their  way 
through  and  drive  the  Spaniards  into  the  sea. 

John  Jay  thought  that  we  should  not  really  need  the  use  of 
the  river  for  many  years.  He  advised  Congress  to  make  a 

l  See  Jefferson's  Works,  II,  267. 


1787]         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        233 

treaty  with  Spain  and  give  up  all  claim  to  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  This  proposition  set  the 
country  in  a  blaze.  Indignation  meetings  were  held  by  the  Ken^ 
tuckians.  Many  threatened  that  if  Jay's  advice  was  taken  they 
would  secede  from  the  Union  and  form  an  alliance  with  Great 
Britain.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  New  England  men  who 
vowed  they  would  secede  if  Jay's  advice  was  not  taken.  In  this 
emergency  Congress  stood,  alarmed,  helpless,  and  ashamed. 

Jefferson,  then  in  Paris,  wrote  (1787)  to  Madison,  saying: 
"  I  never  had  any  interest  westward  of  the  Alleghenies,  and  I 
never  will  have  any,  .  .  .  but  I  will  venture  to  say  that  the  act 
which  abandons  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  is  an  act  of 
separation  between  the  eastern  and  the  western  country."  The 
question  was  not  settled  until  1795,  when  a  treaty  was  made  with 
Spain  (§  267). 

To  these  difficulties  we  must  add  the  financial  muddle.  Many 
of  the  states  perpetrated  frauds  in  their  issue  of  worthless  paper 
money.  This  constituted  another  peril  which  was  undermining 
the  Confederation. 

244.  The  Constitutional  Convention  at  Philadelphia  (1787). 
Meanwhile  Virginia  and  Maryland  had  a  dispute  over  the  navi 
gation  of  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  Potomac.  The  commis 
sioners  appointed  to  decide  the  controversy  failed  to  agree. 
Finally,  it  was  recommended  that  a  convention  should  be  held 
at  Philadelphia  "  for  the  sole  and  express  purpose  of  revising 
the  Articles  of  Confederation." 

The  convention  met  for  business  May  25,  1787.  It  was  a 
body  composed  of  men  who  would  have  done  honor  to  any 
nation.  All  the  states  were  represented  except  New  Hampshire 
which  sent  delegates  later,  and  Rhode  Island  which  sent  none 
at  all.  Washington,  Franklin,  Hamilton,  and  Madison  were 
among  the  fifty-five  members.1  Washington  was  chosen  to  pre 
side.  Jefferson,  then  in  France,  called  it  an  "  assembly  of 

1  See  the  Constitution,  with  an  introduction  and  with  the  names  of  the  thirty 
nine  signers,  in  the  Appendix,  page  vi. 


234          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [ITST 

demigods."  The  delegates  sat  with  closed  doors,  keeping  their 
proceedings  secret.  They  decided  that  instead  of  revising  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  they  would  draw  up  an  entirely  new 
constitution.1 

245.  Conflicting  opinions  in  the  Convention.    The  Constitutional 
Convention  represented  widely  different  ideas  and  interests. 

1.  A    part    of    the   delegates    emphasized    the    necessity    of 
national  sovereignty.     They  urged   that  all   the    chief   powers, 
including  the  control  of  foreign  trade,  should  be  centralized  in 
the  general  government.     Others  vehemently  opposed  this,  and 
insisted  on  state  sovereignty.    Their  plan  was  to  grant  the  nation 
the  least  possible  power,  but  to  reserve  the  utmost  possible  to 
the  separate  states. 

2.  There  was  next  the   conflict  respecting  state   representa 
tion.     On   this  point  the  large  and  the  small  states  could  not 
agree.     The  former  naturally  demanded  representation  based  on 
population  ;  the  latter  demanded  that  all  representation  should 
be  equal,  so  that  the  vote  of  the  small  states  should  count  for 
as  much  as  that  of  their  more  powerful  neighbors. 

3.  Finally,    the    great    slave-holding    states    insisted    that   all 
slaves  should  be  counted  in  making  up  the  basis  of  representa 
tion   in   Congress.      The   northern   states,    on   the    other  hand, 
contended  that  only  the  white  population   should   be   counted. 
There  was  also  a  serious  difference  with  regard  to  the  foreign 
slave   trade.     The   great  majority   of  the  states   wished  to   pro 
hibit  it,   but  the   South  Carolina   and  Georgia  delegates  abso 
lutely  refused  to   vote   for   the   Constitution   unless    that    trade 
should  be  kept  open.     Their   motto  was,  "  No  slave  trade,  no 
Union."     New  England  merchants  who  were  engaged  in  bring 
ing  cargoes  of  negroes  from  Africa  strongly  supported  South 
Carolina. 

246.  The  three  great  compromises  of   the  Constitution.    The 
debate  on   the   above-mentioned   points  was   so   violent   that  it 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I,  9-44 ;  Hart's  American  History  told  by 
Contemporaries,  III,  Nos.  54-75. 


1787J         THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION        235 

twice  threatened  to  break  up  the  convention.     The  conflict  was 
finally  settled  by  three  great  compromises. 

1.  It  was   agreed    that   the    national    government   should   be 
invested  with  powers  of  the  first  importance.     It  was  authorized 
to  regulate  foreign  commerce,  levy  taxes,  arid  impose  customs 
duties ;   to  declare   war,  equip  armies,  and  call  out  the  militia 
to  suppress   insurrection   and   enforce   the   laws    of  the   Union. 
Finally,  it  was  to  have  authority  to  make  all  laws  necessary  for 
carrying  into  execution  the  powers  conferred  upon  it.     There 
was  to   be  a  Supreme   Court,  with  a  number  of  lower  federal 
courts,  to  interpret  and  apply  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
and    the   laws   enacted    by  Congress.     To    make   this  authority 
effective  the  executive  power  was  vested  in  a  President  of  the 
United  States,  who  was  made  commander  in  chief  of  the  army 
and  navy. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  agreed  (by  -later  action)  that  all 
"  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  states  are  reserved  to  the  states  : 
.respectively,  or  to  the  people."  The  question  where  supreme 
power  resided,  whether  in  the  nation  or  in  the  individual  states, 
was  not  explicitly  settled,  nor  was  anything  said  respecting  the 
right  of  a  state  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  (§§  247,  273,  355).1 

2.  It  was  decided  that  Congress,  instead  of   consisting  of  a 
single  House,  should  be  divided  into  the  Senate  and  the  House 
of    Representatives.     Representation  was    to    be    equal    in    the 
Senate,  —  each    state    to    have    two    members,  —  while    in    the 
House  of  Representatives  it  was  to  be  based  on  population. 

3.  It  was  agreed  in  making  up  the  basis  of  direct  taxation 
and  representation  that  five  negroes  should  be  counted  as  equal 
to   three   whites,   because  it  was   assumed   that   the   productive 
labor  of  negroes,  and  of  whites  would  stand  in  that  ratio.     It 


1  See  Macy's  Civil  Government,  ch.  xxxix,  on  the  "  Silences  of  the  Constitution  " ; 
Johnston's  American  Politics,  ch.  i;  Gordy's  Political  History  of  the  United  States, 
1,  79 ;  Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  I,  ch.  iii  et  seq.  In  general,  see  Elliot's 
Debates  on  the  Constitution,  I. 


236          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1787 

was  assumed  that  African  bondage  was  a  temporary  system. 
For  this  reason,  Madison  tells  us,  the  expressions  "  slave  "  and 
"  slaves  "  were  not  used  in  the  Constitution ;  but,  as  John  Quincy 
Adams  said,  they  were  neatly  hidden  under  the  "  fig  leaves  "  of 
the  words  "person"  or  "  persons  held  to  service  or  labor."1 
Slavery  was  to  be  protected  by  a  fugitive- slave  provision,  and  the 
importation  of  slaves  was  not  to  be  prohibited  by  Congress  before 
1 808.  This  kept  the  negro  supply  open  for  twenty  years. 

247.  The  convention  adopts  the  new  Constitution ;  action  of 
the  states ;  the  first  presidential  election.  When  the  great  work 
was  completed  (September  17,  1787)  and  the  last  of  the  thirty- 
nine  delegates  who  were  present  were  signing  the  Constitution, 
the  white-haired  Franklin  rose.  Looking  at  a  figure  of  a  half 
sun  painted  on  the  back  of  the  President's  chair,  he  said :  "  I 
have  often  and  often  in  the  course  of  the  session  looked  at  that 
sun  without  being  able  to  tell  whether  it  was  rising  or  setting ; 
but  now  at  length  I  have  the  happiness  to  know  that  it  is  a 
rising  and  not  a  setting  sun." 

But  the  sun  did  not  rise  without  a  cloud.  The  country  was 
divided  between  the  Federalists  and  the  Anti-Federalists.  The 
former  advocated  the  Constitution  on  the  ground  that  the  repub 
lic  needed  a  strong  government.  The  latter,  among  whom  were 
such  men  as  Patrick  Henry,2  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  Samuel 
Adams,  opposed  it  because  they  feared  that  such  a  govern 
ment  would  be  fatal  to  the  individual  liberty  and  welfare  of  the 
states  and  of  the  people.  Massachusetts  was  won  only  after  a 
tremendous  struggle ;  Madison,  Randolph,  and  John  Marshall 
gained  the  adhesion  of  Virginia ;  Alexander  Hamilton,  by  his 
speeches  8  and  by  the  power  of  that  remarkable  series  of  papers 
called  the  Federalist?  fought  the  victorious  battle  in  New  York. 

The  Constitution  was  finally  accepted  by  a  small  majority ; 
but  most  of  the  states  which  then  voted  to  come  under  the 

1  See  the  Constitution  in  the  Appendix,  vii,  x,  xiv. 

2  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I,  24.  %  Ibid.,  I,  30. 
*  See  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  12. 


1787-1788]     THE  REVOLUTION,  THE  CONSTITUTION    237 

"new  roof"  demanded  that  it  should  speedily  receive  important 
amendments.  Virginia  expressly  qualified  her  acceptance  of  the 
Constitution  by  asserting  the  right  of  the  people  to  resume  the 
powers  they  had  delegated  to  the  general  government.  New 
York  did  the  same.1 

North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island,  fearing  that  their  issues 
of  paper  money  might  be  curtailed  by  the  proposed  Constitution, 
rejected  it.  The  Articles  of  Confederation  were  still  in  force. 
They  could  not  be  altered  or  set  aside  except  by  the  action  of 
the  " legislatures  of  every  state"  (§  238).  But  notwithstanding 
this  provision,  when  eleven  states  had  ratified  the  new  Consti 
tution  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  declared  it  in  force 
(September  13,  1788). 

Thus  by  a  peaceful  revolution  a  majority  of  the  states  quietly 
overturned  the  old  form  of  government.  They  withdrew  from 
the  first  Union  (in  which  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island  still 
remained)  and  established  a  new  and  "  more  perfect  Union,"  but 
just  how  perfect  time  alone  could  determine.  The  two  above- 
named  states  stood  out  by  themselves  until  the  recently  adopted 
Constitution  went  into  operation,  when  at  length  they  decided 
(1789,  1790)  to  join  the  majority;  and  so  the  last  two  pillars  in 
the  new  "  temple  of  liberty  "  were  triumphantly  set  up.  Many 
years  later,  John  Quincy  Adams  declared  that  the  Constitution 
was  "  extorted  from  the  grinding  necessity  of  a  reluctant  nation." 

The  aristocratic  spirit  of  the  colonial  period  (§  184)  made 
itself  felt,  and  in  certain  important  respects  the  new  frame  of 
government  was  not  a  democratic  instrument.  It  did  not  give  the 
people  the  direct  power  of  electing  the  President  of  the  United 
States  or  the  members  of  the  Senate.2  In  fact,  "  the  Constitution 
was  the  work  of  men  who  had  a  vivid  sense  of  the  danger  of 
democracy." 

Since  it  went  into  operation  the  Constitution  has  been  modi 
fied  in  three  ways:  (i)  by  amendment  (§  251);  (2)  by  the 

1  See  Elliot's  Debates  on  the  Constitution,  I,  327. 

2  See  the  Constitution,  Appendix,  xi  (Art.  II,  Sect,  i) ;  vii  (Art.  I,  Sect.  3). 


238          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1789- 

interpretations  and  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  (§  275);  and  (3)  by  political  usage  respecting  broad  or 
strict  construction  (§  256). 

The  first  presidential  election  had  already  taken  place.  As 
the  Constitution  then  stood  (before  the  adoption  of  the  twelfth 
amendment  (§  279)  in  I8O4),1  the  person  receiving  the  highest 
number  of  electoral  votes  was  declared  President  and  the  one 
receiving  the  next  highest  was  to  be  Vice  President.  Under  the 
restrictions  then  existing  (§  174)  only  one  in  twenty  of  the  popu 
lation  could  vote ;  as  a  rule,  the  landless  man  could  not  cast  a 
ballot,  and  he  could  not  hope  to  hold  any  high  office ; 2  at  pres 
ent  at  least  one  in  four  of  the  population  of  the  United  States 
has  the  right  to  vote.3  Washington  was  unanimously  elected 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  John  Adams  was  chosen 
Vice  President. 

248.  Summary.  The  American  colonists  began  the  Revolution 
(I775)  to  obtain  their  constitutional  rights  as  loyal  subjects  of 
the  English  crown.  The  contest  soon  developed  (1776)  into  the 
War  for  Independence.  ;J 

During  the  first  part  of  the  Revolution  the  government  of  the 
United  States  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Continental  Congress. 
Later  (1781),  a  "league  of  perpetual  friendship"  was  formed 
between  the  states  under  the  name  of  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation,  and  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  took  -the 
management  of  the  affairs  of  the  national  government. 

Owing  mainly  to  its  lack  of  needful  executive  and  coercive 
power  the  "league  "  failed  to  give  satisfaction.  To  remedy  this 
defect  and  to  form  "  a  more  perfect  Union,"  our  present  Con 
stitution  was  framed  and  put  in  operation  by  eleven  of  the  thir 
teen  states  (1789);  shortly  afterward  the  two  remaining  states 
decided  to  ratify  it  and  thereby  entered  the  new  Union. 


1  See  the  Constitution,  Appendix,  xi  (Art.  II,  Sect,  i)  and  xvii  (Art.  XII). 

2  See  Thorpe's  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  I,  68,  77,  82,  93-97; 
II,  476. 

3  See  Professor  Thorpe  in  Harper's  Magazine,  November,  1897,  838. 


THE  UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT1 

(1789-1861) 

For  authorities  for  this  chapter,  see  footnotes  and  the  classified 
list  of  books  in  the  Appendix,  page  xxiv 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  (FEDERALIST),  TWO  TERMS  (1789-1797) 

249.  The  inauguration;  tasks  of  the  new  government;  state 
of  the  nation.  Congress  began  to  assemble  in  March,  1789,  in 
Federal  Hall,  New  York.  Washington's  inauguration  (§  247) 
took-place  April  30,  on  the  balcony  of  the  hall.  At  its  close  the 
bells  of  the  city  rang  out  a  joyous  peal,  the  cannon  on  the  Battery 
fired  a  salute,  and  the  crowd  in  the  streets  shouted,  "  Long  live 
George  Washington,  President  of  the  United  States  !  " 
-The  President  and  Congress  had  formidable  tasks  before  them. 
It  was  their  duty  to  set  up  and  start  the  machinery  of  the  new 
government  The  outlook  was  doubtful  if  not  threatening. 

i  See,  in  general,  on  this  section,  Hildreth's  United  States  (1789-1820),  IV-VI; 
Winsor's  America,  VII;  McMaster's  United  States  (1789-1829),!^;  Adams' United 
States  (1801-1815),  I-IX;  Rhodes'  United  States  (1850-1861),  I-III ;  Schouler's 
United  States,  I-V ;  Bryant  and  Gay's  United  States  (rev.  ed.),  IV-V ;  Wilson's 
United  States,  III-IV;  Hart's  Epochs  of  American  History,  III-IV ;  Scribner's 
American  History  Series,  III-IV  ;  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries, 
III-IV ;  Macdonald's  Select  Documents ;  Johnston's  American  Politics ;  Gordy's 
Political  History  of  the  United  States  (rev.  ed.)  (1789-1828),  I-II ;  Von  Hoist's 
Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  I-VIII ;  Benton's  Debates  of  Congress 
(1789-1850),  I-XVI ;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View  (1820-1850) ;  Thorpe's  Constitu 
tional  History  of  the  American  People;  Woodburn's  American  Politics;  Merriam's 
American  Political  Theories  ;  Stanwood's  The  Presidency ;  Snow's  American  Diplo 
macy  ;  McKee's  National  Conventions  and  Platforms;  Johnston's  Representative 
American  Orations  (Woodburn),  I-III ;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United 
States ;  Semple's  American  History  and  its  Geographic  Conditions ;  Wright's  Indus 
trial  Evolution  of  the  United  States ;  Harper's  Encyclopaedia  of  United  States 
History  (rev.  ed.),  10  vols. 

239 


240          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1789 

A  majority  of  the  states  virtually  demanded  the  prompt  amend 
ment  of  the  Constitution  as  the  price  of  their  allegiance  to  the 
Union  (§  247).  The  nation  was  deeply  in  debt  and  had  neither 
revenue  nor  credit.  It  was  necessary  that  we  should  be  able  to 
defend  our  rights  against  foreign  attack  and  to  maintain  domestic 
order,  but  the  army  had  been  disbanded  and  we  did  not  possess 
a  single  war  ship.  Great  Britain  had  excluded  American  com 
merce  from  the  British  West  Indies  and  had  declined  to  make  a 
commercial  treaty  with  us  or  to  send  a  minister  to  this  country. 
Furthermore  that  power  refused  to  give  up  Oswego,  Niagara, 
Detroit,  Mackinaw,  and  other  fortified  posts,  on  the  ground  that 
we  had  not  fully  carried  out  our  treaty  pledges  (§235).  At  the 
South,  Spain  denied  our  right  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  (§  243).  She  refused  to  recognize  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  United  States  and  she  even  claimed  a  large  part  of  the 
territory  held  by  the  state  of  Georgia  (see  map  facing  page  250). 
West  of  the  Alleghenies  the  Indians  were  restless,  and  in  the  Ohio 
country  they  were  preparing  to  attack  the  whites.  „ 

On  the  sea  the  Barbary  pirates  shut  the  Mediterranean  against  our 
commerce ;  every  American  vessel  which  approached  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar  did  so  at  the  risk  of  losing  both  crew  and  cargo. 

This  condition  of  affairs  at  home  and  abroad  gave  rise  to  many 
perplexing  questions ;  but  before  Washington  retired  from  office 
(1797)  they  had  all  been  settled  in  a  manner  which  secured 
peace,  at  a  time  when  peace  was,  of  all  things,  most  essential  to 
the  welfare  of  the  nation. 

250.  Executive  Department ;  the  Cabinet ;  the  Supreme  Court ; 
the  tariff ;  tonnage  and  excise.  The  first  work  accomplished  by 
Congress  was  the  establishment  of  the  departments  of  State,  the 
Treasury,  and  War. 

Washington  chose  his  cabinet  officers  from  opposite  political 
ranks.  He  appointed  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
Knox,  Secretary  of  War;  Jefferson,  Secretary  of  State;  and 
Randolph,  Attorney-General.  The  first  two  were  Federalists, 
the  last  two  Anti-Federalists  (§§  247,  25 6). 


1789]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        241 

Congress,  by  the  Judiciary  Act,  organized  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  —  "the  sleeping  giant"  and  guardian  of 
the  Constitution  —  and  also  established  the  inferior  federal  courts. 

Washington  appointed  John  Jay,  Chief  Justice.  The  court 
over  which  he  presided  was  intrusted  with  the  highest  power 
granted  to  any  tribunal  in  the  Republic,  —  that  of  determining, 
on  appeal,  the  constitutionality  of  the  acts  of  Congress  and  of  the 
laws  of  the  states  (Appendix,  page  xiii).  Speaking  of  the  services 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  Webster  said  that  without  it  the  Constitu 
tion  "  would  be  no  Constitution,  the  government  no  government." 

The  most  urgent  of  all  questions  before  Congress  was,  How  to 
raise  a  revenue?  Should  it  be  obtained  by  direct  tax^or  by 
imposing  a  duty  on  imported  goods  ?  The  decision  was  in  favor 
of  the  latter  method,  and  an  act  was  passed  (1789)  establishing 
the  first  tariff.  The  preamble  declared  that  the  tariff  was  "  for  the 
support  of  the  government,  for  the  discharge  of  the  debts  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  encouragement  and  protection  of  manu 
factures."  The  average  duty  imposed  was  very  low,  —  less  than 
nine  per  cent.  No  very  decided  changes  were  made  in  these  rates 
until  the  War  of  1812  ; l  the  duties  were  then  doubled  (§  299). 

Congress  next  passed  (1789)  a  tonnage  act  which  levied  a  tax 
of  six  cents  per  ton  on  vessels  built  and  owned  in  the  United 
States  and  engaged  in  foreign  trade,  thirty  cents  on  vessels  built 
in  America  but  owned  abroad,  and  fifty  cents  per  ton  on  all 
other  merchant  vessels  entering  our  ports.  Finding  that  the  pay 
ment  of  the  entire  public  debt  would  require  a  larger  revenue, 
Congress  enacted  (1791)  a  law  which  imposed  an  excise  duty  of 
from  nine  to  thirty  cents  a  gallon  on  whisky  and  other  distilled 
spirits  (§  263).2 

From  all  sources  the  government  obtained  a  total  annual  reve 
nue  of  about  $4,000,000,  —  a  sum  then  regarded  as  ample  for 
meeting  the  expenses  of  the  nation.3  Since  that  date  the  revenue 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  80. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  8. 

8  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  no,  in. 


242        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1789-1790 

has  increased  more  than  a  hundredfold,  and  the  demands  on  it 
have  multiplied  in  like  ratio. 

251.  Amendments  to  the  Constitution.     A  majority  of  the  states 
had  called  for  certain  amendments  to  the  Constitution  (§  247). 
Congress  adopted  twelve,  ten  of  which  were  ratified  by  the  states 
before  1792.     They  practically  formed  a  Bill  of  Rights  "  for  the 
more  efficient  protection  of  the  people  "  (Appendix,  page  xvi). 

The  first  of  these  amendments  (Appendix,  page  xvi)  is  espe 
cially  noteworthy.  It  secures  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press  (§  272),  the  right  of  petition,  and  the  free  exercise  of  reli 
gion.  Finally,  it  expressly  forbids  the  establishment  of  a  national 
church.  The  leading  powers  of  Europe  had  always  considered 
such  a  church  indispensable  to  their  existence ;  the  founders  of 
the  American  Republic  were  the  first  to  create  a  government 
entirely  independent  of  any  creed  or  form  of  worship. 

The  tenth  amendment  (Appendix,  page  xvii)  ranks  in  impor 
tance  with  the  first.  It  reserves  to  the  states,  or  to  the  people,  all 
"  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  states."  Later,  the  eleventh  amend 
ment,  provoked  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 1  of  the  United 
States  (Appendix,  page  xvii),  restricted  the  power  of  the  federal 
courts  with  respect  to  the  states.  The  twelfth  amendment,  relat 
ing  to  the  election  of  the  President  and  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  ratified  in  1804  (§  279).  Although  many 
hundreds  of  amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  proposed  in 
the  course  of  the  next  sixty  years,  none  were  adopted  until  the 
period  of  Reconstruction,  when  three  were  added  (1865—1870) 
to  protect  the  negro  (§  523). 

252.  Hamilton's  report  on  the  public  debt.     Early  in    1790 
Hamilton  (§  250)  made  his  report    on   the    public    debt.2     He 
divided    it   into    three   classes:    (i)  the  foreign    debt;   (2)    the 
domestic  debt ;   (3)  the  state  debts. 

1  See    Abstract    of    Constitutional    Decisions    (CJiisholm   vs.    Georgia),    facing 
page  266. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  6 ;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the 
United  States,  89. 


1790-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT       243 

The  first  amounted  to  nearly  $12,000,000.  It  represented,  in 
the  main,  money  which  we  had  borrowed  during  the  Revolution 
from  France,  Spain,  and  private  capitalists  in  Holland.  The 
domestic  debt  of  $42,000,000  was  the  amount  which  the  nation 
owed  to  citizens  of  the  states.  Finally,  there  were  the  state  debts, 
estimated  at  $21,500,000. 

The  entire  national  and  state  obligations  footed  up  $75,500,- 
ooo.  Hamilton  called  this  total  "  the  price  of  liberty."  He 
recommended  the  government  to  make  provision  for  the  pay 
ment  of  the  whole  sum,  principal  and  interest,  believing  that  strict 
honesty  would  prove  to  be  the  best  possible  cement  for  binding 
the  new  Union  solidly  together. 

253.  Debate  on  Hamilton's  proposition.  Congress  agreed  with 
out  dissent  to  the  first  part  of  the  Secretary's  scheme.  It  was  not 
only  willing  but  anxious  to  pay  every  dollar  which  we  had  bor 
rowed  abroad ;  but  many  prominent  men  thought  it  unwise  to  offer 
to  discharge  the  full  amount  of  the  domestic  debt.  It  was  ridiculed 
by  the  opposition  as  a  scheme  for  "  the  relief  of  the  well  to  do." 
The  certificates  of  this  debt  had  fallen  to  fifteen  cents  on  the 
dollar,  and  had  been  largely  bought  up  by  speculators,  who  would 
be  the  only  ones  to  profit  by  their  redemption.  The  supporters 
of  Hamilton's  measure  contended  that  the  government  should  keep 
its  contract  to  the  letter,  no  matter  who  held  the  certificates.  By 
so  doing,  said  they,  we  shall  put  our  credit  on  a  firm  foundation, 
and  teach  future  investors  in  our  national  securities  not  to  sacri 
fice  them.  After  protracted  debate  this  argument  prevailed,  and 
Congress  decided  to  pay  both  the  foreign  and  the  domestic  debt. 

The  great  final  contest  was  over  the  question  of  the  assumption 
of  the  state  debts.  The  Northern  States  owed  the  larger  part, 
and  were  generally  in  favor  of  shifting  the  responsibility  of  pay 
ment  to  the  shoulders  of  the  national  government.  The  South 
ern  States,  which  owed  far  less,  declared  that  Congress  had  no 
right  to  assume  these  debts  and  thereby  compel  the  people  of 
the  South  to  help  clear  off  obligations  which  they  had  never 
incurred. 


244          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1790- 

They  furthermore  contended  that  it  was  very  doubtful  whether 
the  Constitution  authorized  such  an  act,  which  they  thought  would 
dangerously  encroach  on  the  right  and  responsibility  of  the 
states  to  manage  their  own  affairs.  The  advocates  of  Hamilton's 
policy  replied  that  the  proposed  measure  was  necessary  for  the 
common  good  and  for  the  complete  establishment  of  the  public 
credit. 

254.  "  Logrolling  "  ;  funding  the  debt.  Eventually  the  dispute 
was  settled  by  compromise.  While  the  discussion  was  going  on, 
the  question  of  the  location  of  the  national  capital  was  under 
debate.  New  York  wanted  it  on  the  Hudson  ;  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  Delaware ;  Maryland  and  Virginia,  on  the  Potomac.  At  a 
dinner  given  by  Jefferson,  Hamilton  found  an  opportunity  to 
settle  the  state-debt  and  the  national- capital  questions  at  one 
stroke  by  bringing  into  play  the  backwoods  custom  :  "  You  help 
me  roll  my  log,  and  I  will  help  you  roll  yours." 

Two  Virginia  members  of  Congress  promised  to  vote  for  the 
assumption  scheme  on  condition  that  a  sufficient  number  of 
northern  votes  should  be  cast  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  bill  per 
manently  locating  the  national  capital  on  the  Potomac.  This 
bargain  was  faithfully  carried  out.  Certain  northern  members  of 
Congress  voted  for  an  act  which  established  the  headquarters 
of  the  federal  government  at  Philadelphia  for  ten  years  (1790- 
1800)  and  then  fixed  them  permanently  at  Washington;  on  the 
other  hand,  certain  southern  members  voted  for  the  assump 
tion  of  the  state  debts.  Both  measures  were  successfully  carried 
through. 

This  last  act  completed  the  adoption  of  Hamilton's  plan.  The 
whole  public  debt  was  funded  1  by  issuing  new  bonds  bearing  six 
per  cent  interest,  and  pledging  the  chief  part  of  the  revenue  and 
all  of  the  money  received  from  the  sale  of  government  lands  at 
the  West  for  their  gradual  redemption.  In  three  years  these  new 
bonds  rose  to  par,  and  the  credit  of  the  United  States  was  estab 
lished  at  home  and  abroad. 

l  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  89. 


1791-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        245 

255.  Bank  of  the  United  States  ;  the  mint.  Hamilton  next 
recommended  the  establishment  of  a  National  Bank  *  similar  to 
the  Bank  of  North  America  chartered  by  the  Congress  of  the 
Confederation  (1781),  but  which  soon  became  a  state  institution, 
and  which  still  exists  at  Philadelphia. 

There  were  then  (1791)  but  three  banks  in  the  entire  country, 
and  their  notes  had  no  circulation  outside  the  cities  in  which  they 
were  situated.  Most  of  the  people  of  the  states  had  never  even 
seen  a  bank  bill.  Hamilton  urged  that  the  best  interests  of  the 
government  and  of  trade  demanded  a  sound  national  paper  cur 
rency,  which  would  pass  from  hand  to  hand  and  be  used  through 
out  the  Union. 

His  project  roused  a  hot  debate.  Some  members  of  Congress 
denounced  the  measure  as  a  scheme  for  enriching  a  few  greedy 
capitalists  at  the  expense  of  the  mass  of  the  people.  Others 
declared  that  it  was  a  political  plot  for  establishing  an  aristocratic 
institution  intended  to  pave  the  way  to  a  "  monarchy." 

The  most  serious  objection  came  from  Madison  and  his  fol 
lowers.  They  denied  that  the  Constitution  gave  Congress  power 
to  charter  such  a  bank.  The  friends  of  the  measure  replied  that 
the  power,  though  not  specifically  granted,  was  clearly  implied  in 
the  necessary  right  of  collecting  a  revenue  and  paying  off  the 
public  debt,  both  of  which  measures  demanded  a  national  cur 
rency.  The  bill  finally  passed  by  a  large  majority.  Washington 
consulted  his  cabinet  in  regard  to  signing  it.  Jefferson 2  and 
Randolph  opposed  the  measure  as  unconstitutional ;  Hamilton  8 
and  Knox  approved  it.  Hamilton's  arguments  prevailed,  and 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  chartered  for  twenty  years 
(1791-1811).  It  had  its  head  office  at  Philadelphia,  with  numer 
ous  branches.  It  began^feiness  with  a  capital  of  $10,000,000  ; 
one  fifth  was  subscribec^^Bthe  government,  and  the  remainder 
by  individuals.  The  bill^^^he  Bank  were  redeemable  in  coin, 
and  were  receivable  for  d^^fcunents  due  the  United  States.4 


1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No-l^gJ^fc^o.  10.        '  Ibid.,  No.  n. 
4  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  Unite 


246       THE  STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1792-1794 

The  Bank  advanced  money  to  the  government  in  anticipation  of 
taxes,  received  public  deposits,  and  helped  collect  the  revenue. 

The  following  year  (1792)  the  first  national  mint  was  estab 
lished  at  Philadelphia  (§  242).  It  issued  coins  (1793),  beginning 
with  a  hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  coppers,  on  the  admirable  deci 
mal  system  recommended  by  Jefferson.  The  Spanish  dollar 
divided  into  one  hundred  parts  was  taken  as  the  monetary  unit. 
A  double  standard  was  adopted,  and  fifteen  ounces  of  silver  were 
declared  equal  in  value  to  one  ounce  of  gold.  The  coinage  of 
both  metals  was  made  free  and  unlimited  (page  566,  note  i),  and 
remained  so  until  1873  (§528).  The  intention  was  to  maintain 
strict  parity  of  value  between  them,  neither  of  which  was  then 
mined  in  the  country.  But  the  market  value  of  an  ounce  of  gold 
was  found  to  be  somewhat  greater  than  that  of  fifteen  ounces  of 
silver,  and  in  1834  Congress  changed  the  ratio  to  sixteen  to  one.1 

256.  Rise  of  political  parties;  Federalists  versus  Republicans. 
The  heated  discussion  over  the  establishment  of  the  National 
Bank  (§  255)  gave  rise  (1792-1794)  to  two  regularly  organized 
political  parties,  —  the  Federalists  led  by  Hamilton,  and  the 
Republicans,  by  Jefferson.  The  Federalists  were  succeeded  by 
the  National  Republicans  (1828),  the  Whigs  (1834),  and  by  the 
Republicans  (1854)  of  the  present  time;  the  Jeffersonian  party 
soor*  (1796)  took  the  broader  title  of  Democratic-Republicans; 
in  time  this  official  party  name  was  popularly  shoTtened  to  that 
of  Democrats  (1828). 

Jefferson  declared  that  he  and  Hamilton  were  pitted  against 
each  other  "  like  two  fighting  cocks  "  ;  but  both  heartily  sup 
ported  the  Constitution.  Their  opposition  sprang  originally  from 
their  different  interpretation  of  that  instrument.  The  Federal 
ists,  or  "  broad  -construction  "  party^i&iby  Hamilton,  held  that 
the  Constitution  conferred  on  the  ^Bp-nment  every  "  implied 
power  "  necessary  to  its  action  an^^^f  expressly  reserved  to  the 
states.  The  Republicans,  orJ|^^t  constructionists,"  led  by 
Jefferson,  contended  that  tl^^rety  of  the  people  demanded  that 

1  See  Dewey'^^MPffHistory  of  the  United  States,  101. 


1792-1794]     THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    247 

the  government  should  be  bound  by  the  very  letter  of  the  Con 
stitution,  and  that  every  power,  which  was  not  specially  granted 
to  Congress  or  to  the  federal  authorities,  should  be  reserved  to 
the  states. 

In  this  controversy  each  party  could  appeal  to  the  Constitution 
itself  for  support.  The  Federalists  triumphantly  cited  what  has 
been  called  the  "  elastic  clause,"  which  confers  on  Congress 
powers  of  very  extensive  range  (Appendix,  page  x,  last  paragraph  of 
§  8).  The  Republicans  confidently  quoted  the  tenth  amendment, 
which  lays  emphasis  on  the  powers  reserved  to  the  states  (Appen 
dix,  page  xvii).  Time,  however,  showed  that  the  party  in  office, 
whatever  might  be  its  politics,  was  generally  inclined  toward  "broad 
construction."  On  the  other  hand,  the  party  not  in  office  usually 
tended  toward  "strict  construction"  (§§  281,  285,  290,  328). 

Socially  Hamilton  and  Jefferson  stood  in  strong  contrast. 
Hamilton,  like  Adams,  believed  in  restricting  the  exercise  of 
political  rights  to  "the  rich,  the  well  born,  and  the  able"; 
Jefferson  was  opposed  to  all  class  privileges,  and  declared  that  he 
put  his  reliance  in  "  the  good  sense  of  the  people."  Hamilton 
was  an  aristocrat  who  admired  the  stability  of  the  English  con 
stitution  ;  Jefferson,  a  democrat  who  sympathized  with  the  French 
Revolution  and  its  proclamation  of  "  the  rights  of  man."  The 
violent  Republicans  said  that  the  Federalists  were  galloping 
toward  monarchy,  and  nicknamed  them  "  Monocrats  "  ;  the  vio 
lent  Federalists  called  their  opponents  "  Mobocrats,"  and  declared 
that  they  were  hurrying  toward  anarchy  at  breakneck  speed. 

Both  parties  speedily  invoked  the  aid  of  the  press.  Fenno's 
Gazette  defended  the  Federalists,  while  Freneau's  Gazette  fired 
broadsides  in  behalf  of  the  Republicans.  It  was  the  beginning 
of  the  modern  era  in  which  government  by  newspaper  has  come 
to  play  so  conspicuous  a  part. 

The  political  issues  for  many  years  related  largely  to  such 
economic  questions  as  the  Acquisition  of  Territory,  the  Tariff,  the 
United  States  Bank,  and  Internal  Improvements.  Later,  the  ques 
tion  of  the  extension  of  slavery  came  to  the  front. 


248        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1790-1793 

257.  Debate  on  slavery  ;  the  first  fugitive-slave  law.    Meanwhile 
the  Quakers  and  Abolitionists  of  Pennsylvania  had  presented  peti 
tions  to  Congress  praying  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave 
trade  and  for  the  adoption  of  measures  tending  to  emancipation. 
These  petitions  caused  intense  excitement.     Congress,  after  an 
angry  and  prolonged  debate,  resolved  that  it  had  no  constitutional 
authority  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  negroes  (§  246)  before  1808 
(Appendix,  page  x,  §  9)  or  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  states. 

Three  years  afterward  (1793),  Congress  enacted  the  first  law 
for  the  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves.1  It  was  based  on  a  provision 
of  the  Constitution  (Appendix,  page  xiv,  §  2).  A  slave  arrested  in 
Massachusetts  was  rescued  and  set  at  liberty.  Later,  in  Vermont, 
a  judge  refused  to  send  a  slave  back  unless  his  master  could  pro 
duce  "  a  bill  of  sale  from  the  Almighty."  An  attempt  was  made 
in  Congress  to  prevent  the  presentation  of  abolition  petitions, 
on  the  ground  that  they  would  "drive  a  wedge  into  the  Union  " 
which  would  split  off  the  Southern  States.  But  it  was  impossible 
to  stop  the  discussion  of  this  burning  question,  which  was  destined 
to  go  on  until  finally  settled  by  secession  and  civil  war. 

258.  The  first  census  (1790);  the  West ;  anthracite  coal;  manu 
factures  ;  the  "  Oregon  Country. ' '    The  first  census  ( 1 7  90)  reported 
a  total  population  of  nearly  4,000,000,  including  more  than  650,000 
slaves.     Nearly  the    whole    of  this  population  was   east  of  the 
Alleghenies ;  but  pioneers  from  the  states  had  long  been  crossing 
the  mountains  and  making  scattered  settlements  in  the  western 
wilderness  (§137)  ;   Pittsburg  (§169)  was  then  a  thriving  town 
of  about  two  hundred  houses.     Washington  saw  the  importance 
of  opening  water  communication  with  the  West,  and  used  every 
means  in  his  power  to  accomplish  the  great  work. 

Manasseh  Cutler  appears  to  have  done  more  than  any  one  else 
toward  securing  the  freedom  clause  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787  for 
the  government  of  the  Northwest  Territory  (§237).  He  suc 
ceeded  in  purchasing  5,000,000  acres  of  government  land  for  the 

1  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  I,  24  ;  Gordy's  Political  History  of  the  United 
States,  II,  395,  400-401 ;  Benton's  Debates,  I,  417. 


1788-1791]     THE  UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    249 


new  Ohio  Company  (§  164),  and  General  Rufus  Putnam  (§  207) 
went  out  with  a  band  of  New  England  emigrants,  who  began  the 
settlement  of  Marietta  (i  788).  Late  in  the  same  year  the  building 
of  another  group  of  log  huts,  farther  down  the  river,  marked  the 
beginning  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  Speaking  of  the  beautiful  Ohio 
Valley,  Washington  said,  "  If  I  was  a  young  man,  I  know  of  no 
country  where  I  should  rather  fix  my  habitation."  By  1796  the  great 


THE  UNITED  STATES,  1790-1800 

movement  westward  had  increased  to  such  a  degree  that  a  thou 
sand  flatboats  loaded  with  eastern  merchandise  passed  Marietta 
that  year  on  their  way  down  the  Ohio.1 

Hard  coal  had  already  been  accidentally  discovered  (1791) 
at  Mauch  Chunk  Mountain  in  Pennsylvania  (§143).  The  first 
attempts  to  use  this  coal  for  fuel  completely  failed,  and  in 
Philadelphia  it  was  taken  to  mend  the  roads.  Later  experiments 
proved  that  this  black  stone  would  burn,  and  it  came  slowly  into 
use  for  manufacturing  and  heating  purposes. 

1  See  Winsor's  Westward  Movement,  175. 


250        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1790-1793 

With  few  exceptions  the  chief  industry  of  the  United  States  was 
agriculture.  Washington  in  his  first  message  (1790)  earnestly 
recommended  the  encouragement  of  manufactures  ;  for  he  saw 
that  if  we  had  to  depend  on  Europe  for  goods,  England  would 
be  able  to  hold  the  United  States  in  subjection  to  her  mills  and 
factories.  Hamilton  took  the  same  view  and  in  his  famous  report 1 
on  that  subject  (1791)  he  declared  that,  since  reciprocity  of  free 
trade  was  not  then  to  be  expected,  it  was  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
stimulate  the  establishment  of  manufactures  by  a  system  of  pro 
tective  duties  and  bounties ;  but  no  decided  action  was  taken 
until  after  the  War  of  1812. 

Commerce  was  thriving,  and  every  American  vessel  was  in 
demand.  New  England  shipowners  were  not  only  making  for 
tunes  in  the  India  trade,  but  were  opening  up  a  traffic  in  furs 
between  the  northern  Pacific  coast  and  China.  Captain  Robert 
Gray  of  Boston,  one  of  the  pioneers  in  that  trade,  first  carried  the 
American  flag  (1790)  around  the  world.  Two  years  later  (1792), 
he  was  the  first  white  man  to  enter  that  great  river  of  the  West 
which  he  named  the  Columbia-,  thereby  securing  to  the  United 
States  its  original  claim  to  the  "  Oregon  Country." 

259.  The  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  cotton;  the  cotton  gin 
0793)-  Before  Washington  entered  office  Tench  Coxe  of  Phil 
adelphia  urged  southern  planters  to  turn  their  attention  to  cotton 
raising.  In  England  improved  machines  for  making  cotton  cloth 
had  created  an  immense  demand  for  the  raw  material,  which  was 
then  obtained  from  the  East  and  the  West  Indies. 

A  few  bags  of  cotton  had  been  exported  (i  784)  from  Charleston 
to  Liverpool,  but  planters  found  rice  and  tobacco  their  most  profit 
able  crops.  Several  cotton  mills  had  been  built  in  New  England,  but 
their  rudely  constructed  machinery  gave  little  promise  of  success. 

Subsequently  Samuel  Slater,  a  young  Englishman,  came  to  this 
country  and,  working  from  memory  alone,  set  up  (1790)  for  Almy 
&  Brown  of  Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island,  faithful  copies  of  the  best 
cotton-spinning  machines  used  in  the  English  factories. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  12. 


1793-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        251 

The  next  question  was  how  to  obtain  an  abundant  supply  of 
American  cotton.  The  southern  planters  were  ready  to  furnish 
it,  provided  some  quick  and  efficient  means  could  be  found  for 
separating  the  seed  from  the  fiber.  When  done  by  hand  this 
process  was  tedious  and  expensive,  as  it  took  a  negro  an  entire 
day  to  clean  a  single  pound  for  market.  In  1793  Eli  Whitney 
of  Massachusetts  invented  the  cotton  gin,  which  would  clean  a 
thousand  pounds  of  cotton  in  a  day. 

His  machine  wrought  an  industrial  revolution  at  the  South,  and 
produced  economic  and  political  results  which  were  felt  through 
out  the  Union,  (i)  It  "  trebled  the  value  of  land  "  at  the  South, 
caused  an  enormous  rise  in  the  price  of  negroes,  and  stimulated 
rapid  settlement  of  the  Gulf  States.  (2)  It  made  cotton  the 
"  king  "  of  southern  staples.  In  ten  years'  time  we  were  supplying 
our  own  demands  and  exporting  50,000  bales  besides ;  yet  this  was 
only  the  beginning.  (3)  Cotton  culture  encouraged  the  building 
of  a  great  number  of  factories  at  the  North  and  gave  employment 
to  fleets  of  vessels  engaged  in  the  carrying  trade.  (4)  On  the 
other  hand,  it  killed  the  hope  of  gradual  emancipation,  which  the 
"  Fathers  of  the  Republic  "  had  cherished  (§§  45,  176),  since  it 
J  interested  both  southern  and  northern  capitalists  in  the  profits 
;of  slave  labor  and  encouraged  the  flagrant  violation  of  the  law 
prohibiting  the  continuance  of  the  importation  of  slaves  (§§  246, 
257)  after  1808.  The  result  was  that,  in  time,  Whitney's  invention 
contributed  powerfully  to  make  the  maintenance  and  extension  of 
slavery  for  many  years  the  most  prominent  and  the  most  dangerous 
question,  in  our  political  history. 

260.  Fears  of  disunion;  second  presidential  election.  Washing 
ton's  first  term  of  office  was  now  drawing  to  a  close.  He  was 
eager  to  retire  to  Mount  Vernon.  "  I  would  rather,"  said  he, 
"  take  my  spade  in  my  hand  and  work  for  my  bread  than  remain 
where  I  am."  But  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  though  bitter  political 
opponents  (§  256),  united  in  begging  him  to  stand  for  a  second 
term.  Hamilton  thought  that  the  Union  was  not  yet  "firmly 
established " ;  Jefferson  feared  secession  and  civil  war.  He 


252         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1792-1793 

declared  in  his  letters  that  a  "  corrupt  squadron  "  of  Federalists 
in  the  eastern  states  had  formed  a  plot  to  overthrow  the  Republic 
and  set  up  a  monarchy  on  its  ruins.  He  wrote  to  Washington  : 
"  The  confidence  of  the  whole  country  is  centered  in  you.  North 
and  South  will  hang  together  if  they  have  you  to  hang  on." 

Moved  by  these  entreaties  Washington  consented  to  become 
a  candidate.  There  was  no  formal  nomination.  He  was  again 
unanimously  elected  (1792)  ;  John  Adams  became  a  second  time 
Vice  President ;  but  a  majority  of  the  new  House  of  Representa 
tives  were  Jeffersonian  Republicans. 

261.  News  from  France;  Proclamation  of  Neutrality  (1793). 
Shortly  after  Washington's  second  inauguration  (1793)  news 
arrived  that  the  French  Revolutionists  had  declared  war  against 
Great  Britain.  In  the  course  of  our  own  Revolution  we  had 
made  a  treaty  (1778)  with  France  (§219),  which  bound  both 
nations  to  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance.  By  its  terms  we 
guaranteed  Louis  XVI  his  possessions  in  the  West  Indies  and 
pledged  ourselves  to  shelter  French  privateers. 

Subsequently  Louis  XVI  was  guillotined  and  the  Revolution 
ists  set  up  a  new  government.  Now  that  the  French  monarchy 
had  been  overturned,  the  question  arose  whether  we  were  still 
bound  by  the  treaty  we  had  made  with  the  late  king.  Were 
we  under  obligations  to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  the  French 
Republic,  or  should  we  declare  ourselves  neutral  ? 

An  immense  number  of  our  people,  especially  the  Republicans, 
naturally  sympathized  with  the  movement  in  France  which,  follow 
ing  our  example,  had  established  a  commonwealth  based  on  the 
"  rights  of  man."  The  victories  gained  by  the  soldiers  of  the  French 
Republic  were  celebrated  in  Boston  and  Philadelphia  with  the  wild 
est  enthusiasm.  The  tricolor  was  displayed  side  by  side  with  the 
"  stars  and  stripes,"  bands  played  alternately  "Yankee  Doodle" 
and  the  "  Marseillaise,"  and  cakes  stamped  "  Liberty  and  Equality  " 
were  distributed  to  processions  of  gayly  dressed  school  children. 

Washington  felt  the  gravity  of  the  crisis  —  a  word  might  in 
volve  us  in  a  second  war  with  Great  Britain  before  we  had  fully 


1793]        THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        253 

recovered  from  the  war  for  independence.  The  President  called  a 
cabinet  meeting  —  the  first  on  record  —  to  consider  what  action 
should  be  taken.  It  seemed  probable  that  in  such  a  juncture 
Hamilton  and  Jefferson  would  take  opposite  sides  (§  256)  ;  but 
after  a  prolonged  discussion  it  was  unanimously  determined  that 
we  should  remain  strictly  neutral.  A  few  days  later,  Washington 
issued  (1793)  a  Proclamation  of  Neutrality1  announcing  that 
decision. 

The  Republican  opposition  press  (§  256)  denounced  the  Proc 
lamation  in  the  most  violent  terms.  Their  journals  accused  the 
President  of  deliberately  breaking  a  solemn  treaty  with  a  friendly 
power  that  had  helped  us  in  our  direst  need.  They  declared  that 
Washington  had  usurped  authority  delegated  to  Congress,  that  he 
hated  Republican  institutions,  and  was  ambitious  to  make  himself 
king.  On  the  other  hand,  Washington  had  such  a  horror  of 
these  "  brawlers  against  the  government  "  and  such  deep  distrust 
of  their  patriotism  that  he  suggested  that  it  might  be  expedient 
to  exclude  them  from  the  army  of  the  United  States.2  Hence 
forth,  for  some  years,  America  was  divided  between  a  French 
party  and  an  English  party,  —  one  shouting  for  liberty,  the  other 
for  order.  Worn  out  with  the  abuse  which  the  extreme  Repub 
licans  heaped  upon  him,  Washington  exclaimed  that  he  would 
rather  be  in  his  grave  than  be  President. 

262.  "Citizen"  Genet.  Shortly  after  the  Proclamation  of  Neu 
trality  was  issued  (§261)  "Citizen"  Genet,  the  minister  from 
France,  had  arrived  (April  8,  1793)  at  Charleston.  He  was  a 
self-sufficient  young  man,  fully  conscious  of  his  own  importance. 
He  seemed  to  regard  the  United  States  not  as  an  independent 
power,  but  rather  as  an  appendage  to  the  French  Republic. 
Without  waiting  to  consult  Washington,  he  forthwith  issued  com 
missions  to  privateers  which  began  capturing  British  vessels  off 
our  coast ;  he  recruited  men  for  the  French  service ;  and  asked 
for  the  immediate  payment  of  our  debt  to  France,  although 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  13. 

2  See  Washington's  Works  (Ford),  XIV,  104  ;  Lodge's  Washington,  II,  256. 


254          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1794 

that  payment  was  not  yet  due.  Many  people  hailed  Genet 
with  delight,  and  numerous  so-called  "  Democratic  Clubs"  were 
organized  in  imitation  of  the  French  Revolutionary  Clubs. 

The  government  stopped  Genet's  privateers  and  warned  him 
not  to  fit  out  any  more.  He  was  told  that  he  must  respect  the 
Proclamation  of  Neutrality.  In  his  rage  he  publicly  accused  the 
administration  of  having  basely  abandoned  the  cause  of  France. 
He  threatened  to  appeal  to  the  people  as  the  true  sovereigns  in 
America,  in  the  belief  that  thousands  of  eager  hands  were  ready 
to  drag  Washington  from  his  house  and  force  him  to  resign.  The 
President  met  Genet's  mad  threats  by  demanding  and  obtaining  his 
recall  (1794).  A  reaction  speedily  set  in  against  the  hot-headed 
Frenchman,  and  his  influence  subsided  as  rapidly  as  it  had  risen. 

263.  The  Whisky  Insurrection;  Wayne's  victory  over  the 
Indians.  Not  long  after  Genet's  recall  the  government  resolved 
to  take  decided  measures  for  enforcing  the  excise  duty  (§  250) 
in  western  Pennsylvania,  where  there  was  a  great  number  of 
small  distilleries.  In  that  section  of  the  state,  transportation 
over  the  mountains  was  exceedingly  difficult,  and  the  farmers 
found  it  more  profitable  to  have  their  grain  distilled  into  liquor 
than  to  try  to  haul  it  in  bulk  to  eastern  markets.  Coin  was  so 
scarce  among  the  people  of  that  part  of  the  country  that  whisky 
was  generally  used  for  currency,  —  a  gallon  jug  of  it  passing  for 
a  shilling.  The  excise  duty  of  nine  cents  a  gallon  (§  250)  bore 
with  great  hardship  on  the  whole  population  of  the  district. 
They  denounced  the  tax  as  unconstitutional  and  oppressive,  and 
drove  the  excise  officers  out  of  the  country. 

Washington  feared  that  the  rioters  might  threaten  "  the  very 
existence  of  government."  l  He  accordingly  dispatched  (i  794)  an 
army  of  1 5,000  militia  to  enforce  the  law.  The  troops  crossed  the 
Alleghenies  and  restored  order  without  bloodshed.  It  was  an 
effective  object  lesson  of  the  strength  of  the  national  government. 

In  the  meantime  an  Indian  war  was  raging  in  the  "  Ohio  Coun 
try."     General  Harmar  had  been  defeated,  and  the  next  year 
l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  15. 


81  

1 

PART  OF 
THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY 

in  1795 

Showing  Indian  Cession  of  Land 
in  the  Ohio  Valley 


89     Longitude 


West  85         from 


Greenwich         81 


i.  Fort  Wayne;  2.  Fort  Defiance;  3.  Fort  Adams;  4.  Fort  Recovery;  5.  Fort  Loramie ; 
6.  Fort  Greenville ;  7.  Fort  Jefferson ;  8.  Fort  Harmar.  The  Connecticut  and  the  Virginia 
Reserves  were  portions  of  the  original  land  claims  of  those  States  which  they  reserved  when 
they  ceded  their  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  to  the  United  States. 

The  Ohio  Company  (see  §  258)  held  an  immense  tract  bordering  on  the  river.  Connecticut 
ceded  her  Reserve  to  the  United  States  in  1800;  Virginia  did  the  same  in  1852.  By  the  Treaty 
of  1795  the  Indians  ceded  all  lands  east  and  south  of  the  treaty  line  shown  in  map,  and  six 
teen  smaller  tracts  —  the  sites  of  forts  and  trading  posts  —  west  and  north  of  the  line. 


1794-1795]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    255 

(1791)  General  St.  Clair,  who  succeeded  him,  saw  his  own  army  cut 
to  pieces.  Washington  then  sent  out  Anthony  Wayne,  of  Revolu 
tionary  fame  (§  224),  to  conquer  a  peace.  The  savages  had  risen 
with  the  determination  to  kill  or  expel  every  white  settler.  They 
now  found  that  they  must  get  the  better  of  "  the  chief  that  never 
slept."  Late  in  the  summer  of  1 794  Wayne  gained  a  decisive  vic 
tory  at  Fallen  Timbers.  The  next  year  the  Indians  signed  a  treaty 
of  peace  at  Greenville,  by  which  they  gave  up  all  claim  to  about 
25,000  square  miles  of  territory.  This  treaty  opened  the  greater 
part  of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Ohio  to  settlement. 

264.  Danger  of  war  with  England;  impressment  of  sailors. 
Besides  the  anxiety  caused  by  the  Indians  there  was  serious 
danger  of  trouble  with  England.  Since  that  country  and  France 
had  been  at  war  (§261)  both  nations  had  ordered  their  cruisers 
to  capture  American  vessels  found  carrying  provisions  to  either 
belligerent.  These  decrees  threatened  to  destroy  a  large  part  of 
our  foreign  commerce.  England  as  "  mistress  of  the  seas  "  could 
of  course  do  us  more  harm  than  France,  and  hence  the  feeling 
rose  higher  against  her. 

But  we  had  another  grievance  for  which  England  was  alone 
responsible  ;  this  was  her  assumption  of  the  right  of  search  and  im 
pressment.  The  English  navy  was  so  short-handed  that  press  gangs 
made  a  business  of  kidnapping  men  in  the  English  ports,  and  the 
royal  government  issued  orders  to  seize  British  sailors  found  in  the 
merchant  service  anywhere  on  the  open  ocean.  Thousands  of  these 
sailors,  tempted  by  the  high  wages  we  offered,  had  shipped  on  our 
vessels,  and  in  many  cases  had  become  American  citizens. 

England  denied  the  right  of  these  men  to  leave  her  service  or 
to  swear  allegiance  to  the  American  flag,  and  claimed  them  as  her 
subjects.  British  men-of-war  constantly  stopped  our  merchant 
men  and  mustered  their  crews  on  deck  for  examination.  Often  it 
was  a  difficult  matter  to  tell  an  English  sailor  from  an  American. 
Generally  speaking,  the  search  was  simply  a  farce,  and  His  Majesty's 
officers  carried  off  as  many  able-bodied  seamen  as  they  wanted 
without  troubling  themselves  about  any  question  of  nationality. 


256         THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY     [1794-1705 

265.  The  sixty  days'  embargo;  the  Jay  treaty  (1795).  The 
excitement  over  the  action  of  England  was  so  great  that  Wash 
ington  feared  the  country  would  drift  into  war.  To  protect  our 
vessels  from  seizure  in  case  hostilities  should  be  suddenly  declared, 
he  induced  Congress  to  declare  a  sixty  days'  embargo  (1794). 
Before  the  embargo  expired  Washington  sent  Chief  Justice  Jay 
(§250)  to  London  to  endeavor  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  amity 
and  commerce  (§  249)  with  Great  Britain. 

The  five  points  we  especially  wished  to  secure  were:  (i)  the 
renunciation,  by  England,  of  the  assumed  right  of  search  and 
impressment ;  (2)  the  surrender  of  the  frontier  forts  held  by  the 
English  (§  249) ;  (3)  the  grant  of  unrestricted  trade  with  the  British 
West  Indies  (§  249)  ;  (4)  the  recognition  of  the  right  of  neutrals 
to  claim,  as  we  did,  that  free  ships  make  "  free  goods,"  and  were, 
therefore,  exempt  from  seizure  ;  (5)  damages  for  negroes  carried  off 
by  the  British  armies  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  (1783),  and 
compensation  for  the  injury  our  commerce  had  since  received. 

Jay  succeeded  in  making  a  treaty  ;  but  it  only  partially  covered 
the  ground,  and  the  commercial  articles  in  it  expired,  by  limita 
tion,  in  1806.  The  treaty,1  as  Jay  signed  it,  provided  :  (i)  that 
Great  Britain  should,  by  June  i,  1796,  give  up  the  posts  she 
held  on  our  frontier  (§  249)  ;  (2)  that  she  should  make  com 
pensation  for  all  American  vessels  which  she  had  seized  unlaw 
fully  ;  under  this  clause  our  merchants  eventually  received  more 
than  $10,000,000  in  damages;  (3)  Great  Britain  agreed  to  open 
her  ports  in  the  West  Indies,  but  only  to  vessels  of  less  than 
seventy  tons  burden.  These  were  all  the  concessions  that  Eng 
land  would  make ;  she  positively  refused  to  pay  a  copper  for  the 
negroes  she  had  carried  off,  to  'listen  to  our  claim  that  free  ships 
should  make  free  goods,  or  to  relinquish  her  assumed  right  of 
search  and  impressment. 

In  return  for  such  grants  as  we  obtained  we  bound  ourselves 
to  (i)  pay  all  debts  due  British  merchants  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  American  Revolution ;  ( 2 )  to  renounce  the  transportation 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  14. 


1795]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        257 

to  Europe  of  West  India  products,  and  furthermore,  of  American 
cotton,  of  whose  growing  importance,  as  an  export  (§  259),  Jay 
seems  to  have  known  nothing. 

266.  Action  on  the  Jay  treaty ;  excitement  of  the  people.  The 
Senate  of  the  United  States  in  secret  session  accepted  the  treaty 
as  a  whole,  but  struck  out  the  article  by  which  we  renounced 
our  right  to  unlimited  transportation  and  exportation,  and  with 
it  the  privilege  of  West  India  trade  which  was  part  of  that  article. 
England  agreed  to  the  change. 

The  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  New  York  and  Boston  approved 
the  action  of  the  Senate,  but  large  numbers  of  people  throughout 
the  country  vehemently  condemned  the  treaty,  declaring  that 
England  had  got  the  oyster  and  had  left  us  the  shell.  The  Repub 
licans,  generally,  insisted  that  for  us  to  be  at  peace  with  England 
meant  our  being  at  peace  with  the  enemy  of  France  and  with  the 
friend  of  tyranny.  In  Philadelphia  an  infuriated  mob  burned  a 
copy  of  the  treaty  and  guillotined  an  effigy  of  Jay.  In  New  York, 
Savannah,  Charleston,  and  Portsmouth  there  were  similar  riotous 
demonstrations. 

When  it  was  learned  that  Washington  had  actually  signed  (1795) 
the  obnoxious  treaty,  the  excitement  rose  to  its  highest  pitch. 
The  extreme  journals  of  the  Republican  press  accused  the  Presi 
dent  of  treason,  threatened  him  with  impeachment,  and  ridiculed 
him  as  the  "stepfather  of  his  country."  Later,  the  House  of 
Representatives  threatened  to  refuse  to  appropriate  the  money 
necessary  to  carry  out  the  terms  of  the  treaty  ;  but  Fisher  Ames,  in 
what  was  practically  his  dying  speech,1  persuaded  them  to  accept 
it.  Then  a  reaction  set  in,  and  eventually  many  of  those  who 
had  denounced  Jay's  work  most  fiercely  admitted  that,  all  things 
considered,  he  had  done  well  in  keeping  us  from  war. 

267.  Algiers ;  treaty  with  Spain  ;  Washington's  farewell  ad 
dress ;  presidential  election;  new  states.  In  the  autumn  (1795) 
we  made  a  treaty  with  Algiers,  at  heavy  cost,  by  which  we  bought 
the  release  of  American  sailors  held  in  slavery  in  Africa  and  secured 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I,  112, 


258        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1795-1796 

the  temporary  right  of  pursuing  our  commerce  in  the  Mediter 
ranean  without  molestation  (§  249).  In  taking  this  humiliating 
course  we  simply  followed  the  example  of  European  nations  that 
had  long  paid  tribute  to  these  notorious  pirates. 

A  little  later,  we  negotiated  a  very  important  treaty  (1795) 
with  Spain.  By  it  we  secured  :  (i)  the  Florida  boundary  (§  249) 
as  claimed  by  the  United  States  (see  map  facing  page  252  and 
Appendix,  page  xxx)  ;  (2)  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi, 
—  a  point  in  dispute  which  had  once  threatened  to  dissolve  the 
Union  (§  243) ;  (3)  the  "  right  of  deposit,"  or  storage,  at  New 
Orleans  for  American  exports  and  imports.1 

The  following  year  (1796)  Washington  issued  his  farewell 
address.2  He  warned  his  fellow-countrymen  of  the  danger  of 
sectional  jealousy,  and  of  parties  divided  by  geographical  lines, 
and  urged  the  people  to  devote  all  their  strength  to  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  Union. 

At  the  presidential  election  (1796)  the  electors,  without  any 
previous  nomination,  chose  two  bitter  political  opponents,  namely, 
John  Adams,  Federalist,  with  Thomas  Jefferson,  Republican,  as 
Vice  President.  The  ballot  stood  7 1  to  68,  and,  as  Adams  obtained 
only  a  bare  majority,  the  opposition  dubbed  him  the  President  of 
three  votes.  The  closeness  of  the  contest  showed  how  much  the 
Democratic-Republican  party  had  gained.  A  scurrilous  Phila 
delphia  paper  dared  to  congratulate  the  people  on  the  retire 
ment  of  Washington,  and  denounced  him  as  the  man  who  had 
"debauched"  and  "deceived"  the  nation.  But  the  mass  of 
the  people  remained  unflinchingly  loyal  to  the  great  leader  who 
had  secured  our  independence,  and  who  in  all  things  sought  to 
establish  the  lasting  welfare  of  the  American  Republic. 

During  Washington's  administration  three  new  states,  Vermont 
(1791),  Kentucky  (1792),  and  Tennessee  (1796),  had  been  added, 
making  the  total  number  sixteen,  namely,  eight  free  and  eight 
slave  states.  The  admission  of  these  states  was  especially  signifi 
cant  in  two  respects :  (i)  it  showed  that  Congress  had  adopted 

l  See  Hildreth's  United  States,  IV,  569.        2  See  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  4. 


1796-1797]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    259 

the  policy  of  endeavoring  to  balance  the  slave  and  the  free  states 
in  their  division  of  political  power;  (2)  the  first  two  of  these 
new  states  had  framed  constitutions  which  practically  established 
"  manhood  suffrage."  That  fact  stood  out  in  striking  contrast  to 
the  restricted  suffrage  which  still  generally  prevailed  in  the  original 
thirteen  states' (§§  174,  247)  ;  it  was  significant  of  the  democratic 
tendencies  of  the  time.1 

268.  Summary.    The  administration  of  Washington  organized 
the  new  government  on  a  broad  and  permanent  basis.     It  funded 
the  public  debt  and  thereby  established  our  national  credit  at 
home  and  abroad.     It  forced  the  Indians  to  come  to  terms,  and 
so   threw   open   the  Ohio   Country   to   peaceful  settlement.     It 
admitted  the  first  three  new  states  to  the  Union.     It  maintained 
neutrality  with   the   hostile   powers  of  Europe,   and   by   treaties 
negotiated  with  England,  Algiers,  and  Spain  it  secured  the  evac 
uation  of  the  British  forts  on  our  frontiers,  unrestricted  commerce 
with  the  countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean,  the  free  navi 
gation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  the  south 
ern  boundary  claimed  by  the  United  States.     The  invention  of 
the  cotton  gin  opened  up  new  fields  of  industry,  but  fastened 
slavery  on  the  South  and  made  its  maintenance  and  extension 
for  many  years  one  of  the  chief  objects  with  a  large  body  of  the 
people. 

JOHN  ADAMS  (FEDERALIST),  ONE  TERM  (1797-1801) 

269.  Inaugural  address ;  trouble  with  France ;  the  "  X.Y.Z." 
Papers.    The  political  opponents  of  Mr.  Adams  (§  256)  accused 
him  of  "an  awful  squinting"  toward  "a  monarchy."     He  declared 
in  his  inaugural  address  (§  267)  that  the  Constitution  had  always 
impressed  him  as  "  a  result  of  good  heads  prompted  by   good 
hearts,"  that  it  had  established  the  system  of  government  which 
he   had   ever   "most   esteemed,"    and  which  he  believed  best 
reflected  the  "  power  and  majesty  of  the  people." 

1  See  Thorpe's  Constitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  I,  201-202. 


260        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1797-1798 

The  divided  administration  of  Mr.  Adams  (§  267)  had  no 
sooner  entered  office  than  trouble  broke  out  with  France.  The 
ratification  of  the  Jay  treaty  (§  266)  had  thrown  the  French 
authorities  into  a  violent  rage ;  they  accused  us  of  truckling  to 
England,  and  retaliated  by  ordering  the  confiscation  of  American 
ships  carrying  English  goods  even  when  not  "contraband  of 
war."  This  action  virtually  annulled  the  treaty  of  1778  (§219), 
which  had  stipulated  that  "  free  ships  should  make  free  goods." 
They  furthermore  decreed  that  American  sailors  found  on  English 
naval  vessels  —  though  impressed  into  the  British  service  — ; 
should  be  considered  pirates,  liable  to  be  hanged. 

Not  satisfied  with  these  extreme  procedures,  the  French  Direc 
tory  ordered  our  minister,  C.  C.  Pinckney,  to  leave  Paris,  and 
threatened  to  subject  him  to  police  supervision  while  he  remained. 
This  action  forced  him  to  retire  to  Holland. 

In  the  hope  of  preserving  peace,  the  President  appointed 
C.  C.  Pinckney,  Elbridge  Gerry,  and  John  Marshall  to  treat  with 
France.  Talleyrand,  the  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  did  not 
receive  our  commissioners  officially,  but  sent  three  emissaries  to 
confer  with  them  privately.  Talleyrand's  agents  had  the  effront 
ery  to  tell  the  American  envoys  that  certain  passages  in  President 
Adams'  speech  to  Congress  had  offended  the  Directory,  and  that 
they  must  be  satisfactorily  explained  away  or  toned  down.  They 
next  demanded  a  loan  from  the  United  States  to  the  French 
Republic.  Finally,  they  told  our  envoys  that  they  would  be 
expected  to  make  the  members  of  the  Directory  a  handsome 
present.  "We  must  have  money,"  said  they,  "plenty  of  money." 
They  intimated  that  unless  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars  was 
promptly  handed  over  to  them,  orders  would  be  given  to  French 
frigates  to  ravage  the  American  coast.  The  American  commis 
sioners  transmitted  full  reports  of  these  astounding  demands  to 
President  Adams.  He  sent  (1798)  copies  of  the  dispatches  to 
Congress,  but  substituted  the  letters  "X.Y.Z."  for  the  names  of 
Talleyrand's  three  agents ;  hence  the  title,  the  "  X.Y.Z."  Papers.1 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  16. 


1797-1799]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT     261 

270.  The  American  war  spirit  roused;  France  yields.  The  pub 
lication  of  the  "X.Y.Z."  dispatches  was  like  the  falling  of  a  spark 
in  a  powder  magazine.  The  war  spirit  was  roused.  President 
Adams  said,  "The  United  States  is  not  scared";  he  furthermore 
declared  :  "  I  will  never  send  another  minister  to  France  without 
assurances  that  he  will  be  received,  respected,  and  honored,  as 
the  representative  of  a  great,  free,  powerful,  and  independent 
nation." 

Everywhere  the  cry  was  heard,  "  Millions  for  defense,  but  not 
one  cent  for  tribute  !  "  A  few  Republican  newspapers  ventured 
to  suggest  that  we  might  as  well  buy  peace  from  France  as  buy 
it  from  the  Algerine  pirates  (§267),  but  no  heed  was  given  to 
them.  Congress  appointed  Washington  commander  of  a  provi 
sional  army  and,  notwithstanding  strong  opposition,  voted  (179?) 
to  complete  without  delay  the  three  frigates  United  States,  Con 
stellation,  and  Constitution,  which  were  then  on  the  stocks. 

The  first  of  these  ships  was  launched  that  year  (1797).  It 
was  the  beginning  of  the  modern  American  navy.  Orders  were 
given  for  the  construction  of  twelve  additional  men-of-war,  and 
commissions  were  issued  to  the  commanders  of  several  hundred 
private  armed  vessels.  Intercourse  with  France  was  suspended, 
the  treaty  of  1778  (§  219)  was  pronounced  void,  and  the  streets 
rang  with  the  new  songs  of  "Hail  Columbia"  and  "Adams  and 
Liberty." 

War,  though  not  formally  declared,  had  actually  begun.  The 
French  had  captured  several  hundred  American  vessels.  This 
gave  rise  to  the  first  "spoliation  claims"  made  later  by  citizens 
of  the  United  States  against  France.1  In  1799  Commodore 
Truxton  of  the  Constellation  captured  a  French  frigate  and  gained 
the  victory  over  another.  When  France  saw  that  America  was 
not  to  be  bullied  into  purchasing  peace,  the  adroit  Talleyrand 
denied  that  he  had  authorized  the  demands  which  his  agents  had 

1  By  the  treaty  of  1800,  made  between  the  United  States  and  France,  our  govern 
ment  assumed  the  settlement  of  the  «  spoliation  claims,"  but  nothing  was  done  in 
the  matter  until  1891. 


262         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1798 

insolently  made  for  a  loan  and  gifts  (§  269),  and  pledged  his  gov 
ernment  to  receive  any  minister  we  might  think  proper  to  send. 

Without  consulting  his  cabinet  Adams  at  once  dispatched 
commissioners  to  Paris.  The  extreme  Federalists  were  bitterly 
opposed  to  his  making  any  concessions  whatever  to  a  nation  that 
they  considered  to  be  a  political  ally  of  their  opponents,  the 
Republicans.  They  now  indignantly  declared  that  the  President 
had  humiliated  the  United  States  by  sending  the  commissioners. 
The  excitement  over  this  incident  split  the  Federalist  party  and 
helped  to  bring  about  its  overthrow. 

The  commissioners  negotiated  a  treaty  of  peace,  and  the  Presi 
dent  said  later  :  "  I  desire  no  other  inscription  over  my  grave 
stone  than  '  Here  lies  John  Adams,  who  took  upon  himself  the 
responsibility  of  peace  with  France  in  the  year  1800.'  " 

271 .  A  new  naturalization  act ;  the  Alien  and  the  Sedition  Acts.1 
Meanwhile,  the  French  Revolution  and  the  reaction  against  it  in 
Europe  had  driven  thousands  of  refugees  to  our  shores.  We 
were  glad  to  welcome  many  of  these  men ;  but  others  who  came 
were  agitators  and  anarchists.  They  put  liberty  and  law  to  shame 
and,  like  the  wild  ass  of  the  desert,  rushed  madly  about  kicking 
at  everything. 

To  meet  this  state  of  things  Congress  passed  a  new  naturaliza 
tion  act  (1798).  It  required  fourteen  years'  residence  (instead 
of  five)  for  admission  to  citizenship  and  ordered  all  foreign  resi 
dents  to  be  registered. 

This  stringent  legislation,  repealed  in  1802,  was  followed  by  the 
Alien  Act2  (i  798),  limited  to  two  years'  duration.  It  was  directed 
mainly  against  French  residents,  or  "  renegade  aliens,"  who  were 
suspected  of  plotting  to  overthrow  the  government.  It  empow 
ered  the  President  to  banish,  without  trial,  all  aliens  whom  he 
believed  to  be  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  United 
States.  Should  such  persons  refuse  to  obey  the  order  to  leave 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  17,  18,  20. 

2  The  Alien  Act,  mentioned  above,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Alien  Ene 
mies  Act  of  1798,  which  still  remains  on  the  statute  books;  see  Macdonald,  No.  19. 


TO  ALL  BRAVE,  HEALTHY,  ABLE  BODIED,  AND  WELL 
DISPOSED  YOUNG  MEN 

IN  THIS  NElGHBOURHWD'NWHORHAg^G^JJNCLINATlON  TO  JOIN  THE  TROOPS, 

GENERAL  WASHINGTON, 

FOR    THE    DEFENCE    OF    THE 

LIBERTIES  AND  INDEPENDENCE 

OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Agauirt  the  hollilc  iefignt  of  foreign  enemies, 


TAKE  NOTICE, 


THAT  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday  and  Saturday  at  Spotswood  in 
Middlesex  county,  attendance  will  be  given  by  Lieutenant  Reatting  with  his  music 
and  recruiting  party  of  company  in  Major  Shute's  Battalion  of  the  iith  regiment 
of  infantry,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Aaron  Ogden,  for  the  purpose  of 
receiving  the  enrollment  of  such  youth  of  spirit,  as  may  be  willing  to  enter  into 
this  HONOURABLE  service. 

The  ENCOURAGEMENT  at  this  time,  to  enlist,  is  truly  liberal  and  generous, 
namely,  a  bounty  of  TWELVE  dollars,  an  annual  and  fully  sufficient  supply  of 
good  and  handsome  cloathing,  a  daily  allowance  of  a  large  and  ample  ration  of 
provisions,  together  with  SIXTY  dollars  a  year  in  GOLD  and  SILVER  money 
on  account  of  pay,  the  whole  of  which  the  soldier  may  lay  up  for  himself  and 
friends,  as  all  articles  proper  for  his  subsistance  and  comfort  are  provided  by  law, 
without  any  expence  to  him. 

Those  who  may  favour  this  recruiting  party  with  their  attendance  as  above,  will 
have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  and  seeing  in  a  more  particular  manner,  the  great 
advantages  which  these  brave  men  will  have,  who  shall  embrace  this  opportunity 
of  spending  a  few  happy  years  in  viewing  the  different  parts  of  this  beautiful  conti 
nent,  in  the  honourable  and  truly  respectable  character  of  a  soldier,  after  which, 
he  may,  if  he  pleases  return  home  to  his  friends,  with  his  pockets  FULL  of  money 
and  his  head  COVERED  with  laurels 

GOD  SAVE  THE  UNITED  STATES 
(I799-) 


1798]         THE    UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        263 

the  country,  they  might  be  imprisoned  for  a  term  not  exceeding 
three  years.  This  act  was  never  enforced,  but  several  hundred 
Frenchmen  took  alarm  and  set  sail  for  Europe. 

Congress  next  passed  the  Sedition  Act  (1798),  limited  to  less 
than  three  years  and  directed  mainly  against  the  opposition  press. 
It  punished,  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $2000  and  by  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  two  years,  any  person  convicted  by  jury  of  the 
following  offenses  :  (i)  of  having  written  or  published  "  false, 
scandalous,  and  malicious  "  statements  with  intent  to  bring  the 
President  or  Congress  into  contempt;  (2)  of  exciting  against 
them  "  the  hatred  of  the  good  people  of  the  United  States  "  ;  (3) 
of  stirring  up  "sedition  within  the  United  States."  The  act 
granted  the  accused  the  right  of  giving  "  in  evidence  in  his 
defense  the  truth  of  the  matter  contained  in  the  publication 
charged  as  a  libel";  this  privilege,  as  we  have  seen  (§  69),  was 
not  granted  by  the  common  law.  The  act  furthermore  provided 
that  the  jury  might  "  determine  the  law  and  the  fact."  These 
two  measures  received  the  support  of  every  leading  Federalist, 
Washington  included,  except  John  Marshall. 

272.  Opposition  to  the  Alien  and  the  Sedition  Acts.  A  multitude 
of  petitions,  signed  largely  by  Republicans,  were  at  once  sent  to 
Congress  praying  for  the  immediate  repeal  of  this  legislation.1  The 
petitioners  declared  that  the  Alien  Act  violated  the  Constitution 
by  depriving  the  states  of  their  right  to  admit  foreigners  (Appen 
dix,  page  x,  §  9),  and  by  denying  trial  by  jury  (Appendix,  page 
xvi,  Art.  VI).  They  called  for  the  repeal  of  the  Sedition  Act  on 
similar  grounds.  They  considered  that  it  was  in  direct  conflict 
with  the  first  amendment  to  the  Constitution  which  guaranteed 
the  freedom  of  the  press  (Appendix,  page  xvi),  though  Judge 
McKean  of  Pennsylvania  had  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  lib 
erty  of  the  press  "  consists  in  laying  no  previous  restraint  upon 
publication,  and  not  in  freedom  from  censure  for  criminal  matter 
when  published."2 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I,  131. 

2  See  Hildreth's  United  States,  V,  167. 


264         THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1798 

The  Alien  Act  remained  a  dead  letter ;  but  the  Sedition  Act- 
was  vigorously  enforced  in  a  number  of  instances.  The  two  most 
notable  cases  (1798)  were  those  of  Matthew  Lyon,  a  Republican 
member  of  Congress  from  Vermont,  and  secondly,  that  of  the 
proprietor  of  the  Vermont  Gazette.  Lyon  was  accused  of  hav 
ing  charged  President  Adams  with  "  ridiculous  pomp  "  and  "  self 
ish  avarice."  He  had  also  publicly  read  a  letter  from  abroad 
in  which  the  writer  wondered  why  Congress  did  not  send  the 
President  to  a  "  madhouse."  Lyon  was  convicted,  sentenced  to 
four  months'  imprisonment,  and  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of 
$1000.  The  proprietor  of  the  Gazette  made  some  sharp  com 
ments  on  this  sentence,  and  he  was  fined  and  sent  to  the  same 
"  Federal  Bastille"  where  the  unfortunate  Lyon  had  nearly  frozen 
in  his  cell.  When  their  sentences  expired  both  offenders  received 
an  enthusiastic  public  reception  from  those  who  regarded  them  as 
martyrs  in  the  cause  of  Republican  liberty. 

273.  The  Kentucky  and  Virginia  nullification  resolutions.1  In 
the  South  the  opposition  to  the  Alien  and  the  Sedition  Acts  took 
a  very  serious  form.  Jefferson,  under  a  pledge  of  "  profound 
secrecy,"  drew  up  a  series  of  resolutions  which  the  Legislature 
of  Kentucky  adopted,  with  some  slight  changes  (1798).  He 
believed  that  the  makers  of  these  two  laws  deliberately  intended 
to  violate  the  Constitution,  overthrow  the  Republic,  and  prepare 
the  way  for  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy.  The  Kentucky 
Resolutions  declared  that  whenever  "  the  general  government 
assumes  undelegated  powers,  its  acts  are  unauthoritative,  void, 
and  of  no  force."  Virginia  followed  with  resolutions  drawn  by 
Madison,  who  had  been  one  of  the  foremost  Federalists  (§  244), 
but  who  had  now  gone  over  to  the  Republicans. 

They  affirmed  that  when  the  federal  government  exceeds  its 
authority,  the  "states"  (Madison  was  careful  to  use  the  plural) 
have  the  right  "  to  interpose  for  arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil." 
Both  sets  of  resolutions  professed  entire  loyalty  to  the  Republic ; 
but  both  distinctly  declared  that  they  regarded  the  Union  simply 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  20-23. 


1798-1799]     THE   UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    265 

as  a  "compact"  made  between  "sovereign  states,"  and  that  no 
"common  judge"  existed  to  determine  disputes  between  them 
and  the  national  government. 

Kentucky  and  Virginia  appealed  to  their  fourteen  sister  states 
to  sustain  them.  Seven  replied.1  They  denied  the  right  of  a  state 
to  sit  in  judgment  on  a  federal  law;  and  Rhode  Island,  Massa 
chusetts,  New  York,  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont  declared  that 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  alone  had  authority  to 
decide  whether  an  act  of  Congress  was  or  was  not  constitutional. 

The  following  year  (1799)  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  reaf 
firmed  its  original  resolutions  in  stronger  form,  and  declared  its 
conviction  that  "nullification"  was  the  "rightful  remedy";  but 
having  stated  this  principle,  the  Legislature  prudently  added, 
"This  commonwealth  will  bow  to  the  laws  of  the  Union."  Many 
years  later  (1852,  1856),  the  Democratic  party  indorsed  these 
resolutions  in  its  political  platforms  (§§418,  431). 

After  Jefferson's  death  South  Carolina  did  actually  proceed 
(1831)  to  nullify  an  act  of  Congress;  but  Madison  then  was 
the  first  to  protest  against  the  "  colossal  heresy "  of  a  state's 
presuming  to  set  the  federal  government  at  defiance. 

When  South  Carolina  reaffirmed  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
nullification  resolutions  she  simply  acted  in  the  same  spirit  shown 
by  Pennsylvania  in  1810,  by  Connecticut  in  1812,  by  the  Hart 
ford  Convention  in  1814,  by  Ohio  in  1821,  by  Georgia  in  1828 
(§§  3IO>  3J9>  340>  4*6).  Later,  many  northern  states  practically 
nullified  an  act  of  Congress —  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  —  when  they 
passed  their  "  Personal  Liberty  Laws."  2 

274.  Death  of  Washington ;  the  new  national  capitol ;  the 
presidential  election.  Near  the  close  of  the  century  (1799)  the 
country  was  called  to  mourn  the  sudden  death  of  Washington. 
In  announcing  this  to  Congress,  John  Marshall  spoke  of  him,  in 
Lee's  words,  as  the  man  who  stood  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens."  8 

1  See  Elliot's  Debates  on  the  Constitution,  etc.,  IV,  558. 

2  See  E.  P.  Powell's  Nullification.   3  See  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  V,  766. 


266        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [isoo-isoi 

The  next  Congress  assembled  (1800)  in  the  unfinished  national 
capitol  which  was  rising  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  city 
named  in  honor  of  the  great  leader  who  had  gone  to  his  reward. 

The  Federalist  party  was  rent  by  dissensions  (§  270).  In 
the  presidential  election  the  candidates  of  both  parties  were  now 
nominated,  for  the  first  time,  by  Congressional  caucuses.  This 
custom  was  henceforth  kept  up  until  1824.  Adams  and  C.  C. 
Pinckney,  the  rival  Federalist  candidates,  received  a  smaller 
number  of  electoral  votes  than  Aaron  Burr  and  Jefferson,  the 
Democratic-Republican  (§  256)  candidates,  each  of  whom  re 
ceived  seventy-three  electoral  votes.  This  tie  threw  the  election 
into  the  House  of  Representatives  (Appendix,  page  xi),  which  was 
strongly  Federalist,  but  which  could  not  agree  to  unite  on  either 
Adams  or  Pinckney.  After  balloting  for  a  week,  ten  votes  were 
cast  for  Jefferson  and  four  for  Burr ;  under  the  Constitution,  as 
it  then  stood  (§  247),  this  made  Jefferson  President  and  Burr 
Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 

275.  The  "  midnight  judges  "  ;  fall  of  the  Federalists.  It  was 
known  that  the  next  Congress  would  have  a  large  Democratic- 
Republican  majority.  The  Federalist  Congress,  then  in  session, 
passed  (1801)  a  Judiciary  Act  creating  eighteen  new  judges  for 
federal  circuit  courts.  During  the  last  few  weeks  of  his  presi 
dency  Mr.  Adams  was  busy  signing  commissions  for  these  judges, 
whom  he  selected  from  his  own  party.  It  was  currently  reported 
that  he  was  occupied  in  this  work  up  to  the  last  hours  of  the  last 
night  of  his  administration,  and  the  opposition  nicknamed  the 
men  he  had  chosen  "  the  midnight  judges."  Jefferson  declared 
that  the  defeated  Federalists  had  "retreated  into  the  judiciary 
as  a  stronghold."  From  that  "stronghold"  he  was  determined 
to  dislodge  them  (§  279). 

The  office  of  Chief  Justice  having  become  vacant,  President 
Adams  appointed  John  Marshall,  a  man  of  "  majestic  intellect," 
to  that  position.  He  held  it  with  honor  to  himself  and  to  the 
nation  for  the  next  thirty-five  years.  His  masterly  decisions  on 
constitutional  points  favored  the  "  broad-construction "  theory 


LEADING  CONSTITUTIONAL  CASES 

Decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  (1793-1835) 

When  Chief-Justice  Marshall  took  his  seat  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  1801,  "the  nation,  the  Consti 
tution,  and  the  laws  were  in  their  infancy."  Judge  Story  says 
that  scarcely  more  than  two  or  three  questions  of  consti 
tutional  law  had  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  that  Court. 

Of  these  the  case  of  Chisholm  v.  Georgia  (1793)  was  the  most 
important.  •  The  Court,  Chief-Justice  Jay  presiding,  then 


John  Marshall. 

asserted  its  right  to  hear  the  suit,  on  appeal,  of  a  citizen  of 
one  State  against  another  State,  and  to  enter  judgment  against 
that  State ;  but  the  right  was  promptly  taken  away  by  the 
Eleventh  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  (1798)  (§  242). 

I.  Chief-Justice    Marshall's   first   important  constitutional 
decision  was  made  in  the  case  of  Marbury  v.  Madison  (1803). 
The    Court   then   declared    that   Congress  was  powerless  to 
enact  a  law  conflicting  with  the  Constitution.     This  decision 
has  never  since  been  questioned. 

II.  Sixteen  years  later  the  case  of  McCulloch  v.  Maryland  was 
argued  (1819).     The  Court  then  took  its  stand  in  the  most  posi 
tive  manner  on  the  "  broad  construction  "  (  §§  256,  277)  of  the 


Constitution.  It  declared  that  it  possessed  full  authority  to 
annul  a  State  law  which  conflicted  with  the  "  implied  powers  " 
of  the  Constitution  and  with  those  of  the  Federal  government. 

III.  Later  in  the  same  year,  the  Court  by  its  decision  in  the 
Dartmouth  College  case  (1819)  limited  the  power  of  a  State  to 
set  aside  a  contract. 

IV.  In  a  fourth  leading  case,  that  of  Cohens  v.  Virginia  (1821), 
the  Court  asserted  its  right  to  hear  suits  brought  on  appeal 
from  the  State  courts,  and  to  act  as  a  final  tribunal  in  such 
cases.     In  rendering  this  decision  Chief-Justice  Marshall  inci 
dentally  took  occasion  to  condemn  the  doctrines  of  nullification 
and  secession.     He  declared  that  the  United  States  has  the 
right  to  control  all  individuals  or  State  governments  within 
its  boundaries. 

V.  Finally,  in  the  case  of  the  American  Insurance  Co.  v.  Canter 
(1828),  the  Court  declared  that  "the  Government  possesses 
the  power  of  acquiring  territory,   either  by  conquest  or  by 
treaty." 

These,  and  kindred  decisions,1  extending  over  a  space  of 
more  than  thirty-four  years,  fully  entitled  Chief-Justice  Mar 
shall2  to  be  called  "the  second  maker  of  the  Constitution," 
for  he,  more  than  any  other  man  of  his  day,  created  "con 
stitutional  government,  as  we  now  understand  that  term." 
Finally,  as  Judge  Landon  remarks,  "  It  is  plain  now  that  we 
are  largely  indebted  to  the  Court  for  our  continued  existence 
as  a  nation,  and  for  the  harmony,  stability,  excellence,  and 
success  of  our  Federal  system." 

1  Several  of  these  decisions  (as  in  that  of  McCulloch  v.  Maryland)  upheld 
the  powers  of  Congress,  e.g.  Osborn  v.  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.     Others 
(as  in  Cohens  v.  Virginia)  asserted  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court,  e.g.  Martin 
v.  Hunter's  Lessees.     Finally,  a  number  of  others  (as  in  the  Dartmouth  Col 
lege  case)  set  aside  State  laws  which  conflicted  with  the  Federal  Constitu 
tion,  e.g.  United  States  -v.  Peters  or  the  Olmstead  case,  Fletcher  v.  Peck,  and 
Gibbons  v.  Ogden.     See  a  classified  list  of  these  cases  in  McMaster's  "  United 
States,"  V,  412. 

In  some  of  the  last-mentioned  decisions  the  States  "  struck  back,"  and 
declined  to  recognize  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court.  Thus  Georgia  (1831- 
1832)  positively  refused  to  abide  by  its  decision  or  to  obey  its  mandate  (§  340). 
That  State  took  the  ground  that  it  had  sovereign  power  to  annul  all  laws 
and  ordinances  made  by  the  Cherokee  Indians  within  its  borders,  and  to  cut 
up  their  territory  and  annex  it.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  Stares 
denied  that  Georgia  could  constitutionally  exercise  such  power,  and  the  State 
defied  its  authority.  President  Jackson  not  only  took  no  steps  to  uphold 
the  Court,  but  was  reported  to  have  said :  "  John  Marshall  has  made  his 
decision  ;  now  let  him  enforce  it."  See  Von  Hoist's  "  Constitutional  History 
of  the  United  States,"  I,  448-458. 

2  See  Magruder's  "Life  of  Marshall"  ;  Van  Santvoord's  "Lives  of  the 
Chief-Justices  of  the  United  States";   Dr.  Henry  Hitchcock's  lecture  on 
Chief-Justice  Marshall  in  the  Political  Science  Lectures  of  the  University 
of  Michigan  for   1889;    Carson's  "History  of   the  Supreme   Court  of  the 
United  States,"  and  Landon's  "  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States  " 
(revised  edition). 


1801]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        267 

(§  256);  the  importance  of  these  decisions  gained  for  him  the 
title  of  the  "  second  maker  "  of  the  Constitution  (see  an  abstract 
of  these  decisions  opposite,  page  266). 

The  passage  of  the  Alien  and  the  Sedition  Laws  (§  271), 
joined  to  Adams'  peace  policy  toward  France  (§  270),  sapped  the 
strength  of  the  Federalist  party,  and  with  the  election  of  Jeffer 
son  it  fell,  never  to  rise  again  as  a  national  power.1  That  party 
had  never  trusted  the  mass  of  the  people  and  had  never  been 
trusted  by  them ;  but  none  the  less  it  had  done  a  great  and  last 
ing  work.  It  had  organized  the  federal  government.  Hamilton, 
Adams,  and  Marshall  were  among  its  leaders,  and  Washington 
sympathized  largely  with  their  views.  They  were  conservatives, 
and  deemed  it  prudent  to  make  haste  slowly ;  but  they  have 
never  been  surpassed  in  devotion  to  what  they  believed  to  be 
the  highest  welfare  of  the  American  Republic. 

276.  Summary.    The  principal  events  of  Adams'  administra 
tion  were:    (i)   the   difficulty  with   France,  represented   by  the 
"X.Y.Z."  Papers,  followed  by  a   short  war  and   ending  with  a 
treaty  of  peace ;   (2)  the  passage  of  the  new  Naturalization  Act, 
followed  by  the  Alien  and  the  Sedition  Acts ;   (3)  the  Kentucky 
and  Virginia  Nullification  Resolutions  ;  (4)  the  death  of  Washing 
ton,  and  the  fall  of  the  Federalist  party. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  (DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN),  Two 
TERMS  (1801-1809) 

277.  Jefferson   and   "  political   revolution."    Jefferson   (§256) 
regarded  his  election  .(§  274)  as  a  "  political  revolution."     It  was, 
he  said,  "  as  real  a  revolution  in  the  principles  of  our  government 
as  that  of  1776  was  in  its  form."     The  Federalists  had  held  con 
trol  for  twelve  years ;  for  the  next  forty  years  the  opposite  party 
was  to  stand  at  the  helm  and,  in  Jefferson's  words,  put  the  ship 
on  her  "  Republican  tack."     Henceforth  there  were  to  be  "  no 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries  ("  The  Wail  of  a  Feder 
alist  Organ"),  III,  No.  105. 


268          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY          [isoi 

more  coaches-and-six,  no  more  court-dress,  no  more  levees,"  or 
1  i  half  -monarchical  state,"  as  in  the  days  of  Washington,  but  only 
plain  democratic  simplicity. 

The  inauguration l  at  what  was  called  the  "  palace  "  —  in  reality 
a  "palace  in  the  woods  "  — was  the  first  which  took  place  in  the 
permanent  capital  of  the  nation.  The  new  President  delivered  a 
masterly  address  in  which  he  endeavored  to  conciliate  the  defeated 
party.  It  marked  the  transfer  of  power  from  the  conservative 
Federalists  who  had  successfully  organized  the  government  to  the 
Democratic-Republican  party.  The  first  believed  in  the  "  broad 
construction  "  of  the  Constitution  (§  256),  in  limited  suffrage,  and 
laid  stress  on  national  sovereignty ;  the  second  advocated  "  strict 
construction"  (§256)  and  favored  manhood  suffrage  (§267); 
Jefferson,  its  founder,  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  state  rights,  or 
what  was  later  called  state  sovereignty  (§  273). 

These  opposite  political  tendencies  were  personified  in  the 
President  elect  and  Chief  Justice  Marshall  (§275)  as  they  met 
face  to  face  on  the  4th  of  March,  1801,  one  to  administer,  the 
other  to  take,  the  oath  of  office  (Appendix,  page  xii).  Jefferson, 
as  a  Democrat,  was  "bent  on  restricting  the  power  of  the  national 
government  in  the  interests  of  human  liberty "  ;  Marshall,  as  a 
Federalist,  was  resolved  to  enlarge  that  power  "  in  the  interests 
of  justice  and  nationality." 

278.  The  United  States  in  1801  ;  material  obstacles  to  union. 
The  second  census  (1800)  showed  an  increase  of  over  thirty- five 
per  cent  (§258).  It  reported  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States,  including  nearly  900,000  slaves,  at  a  little  over  5,300,000, 
or  less  than  the  single  states  of  New  York  or  Pennsylvania  have 
to-day.  The  entire  country  west  of  the  Alleghenies  was  popularly 
known  as  the  "Wilderness";  it  had  perhaps  500,000  settlers. 
They  belonged  to  the  pioneer  class ;  they  had  the  log-cabin  virtues  ; 
they  were  full  of  energy,  self-reliance,  and  indomitable  daring. 
In  a  very  large  degree  those  qualities  have  made  America  what  it 
is  to-day.  The  West  attracted  a  steady  stream  of  emigrants,  but 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I,  155. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AT  THE  CENSUS  OF  1800 
The  shaded  portions  north  of  Florida  show  areas  of  population 


269 


270          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [isoi- 

the  region  was  so  vast  that  Jefferson  thought  it  might  require  a 
"  thousand  generations  "  to  fill  it.  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Knox- 
ville,  and  Louisville  were  slowly  gaining  ground.  Nashville  was 
then  the  farthest  outpost  in  the  southwest.  In  the  northwest  less 
progress  had  been  made,  and  it  was  not  until  three  years  later 
(1804)  that  Fort  Dearborn  was  erected  as  a  frontier  defense  on 
the  ground  where  Chicago  now  stands. 

Facilities  for  travel  and  transportation  had  not  essentially  im 
proved  since  Columbus  first  set  foot  on  the  shores  of  the  New 
World.  Only  three  roads  had  been  cut  through  the  forest  to 
the  West.  The  northern  route  led  to  Pittsburg,  the  middle  route 
to  the  Kanawha,  a  branch  of  the  Ohio,  the  southern  to,  and 
through,  the  Cumberland  Gap.  These  roads,  which  had  originally 
been  "  blazed  "  trails,  were  of  the  roughest  sort.  In  point  of  time 
it  was  actually  farther  from  New  York  City  to  the  Mississippi  then 
than  it  is  now  from  New  York  to  Japan.  The  long  mountain 
range  which  separated  the  eastern  from  the  western  settlements 
seemed  to  many  the  geographical  limit  of  the  Republic.  Nature 
had  apparently  allied  the  West  with  the  Mississippi,  and,  unless 
canals  could  be  cut  between  the  Atlantic  states  and  the  section 
beyond  the  Appalachians,  it  was  difficult  to  see  how  both  could 
be  held  together  under  a  single  central  government. 

Statesmen  like  Fisher  Ames  did  not  hesitate  to  declare,  "  Our 
country  is  too  big  for  union  ";  and  Jefferson,  notwithstanding  his 
ardent  patriotism,  said,  "  Whether  we  remain  in  one  confederacy 
or  form  into  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  Confederations  I  believe  is 
not  very  important  to  the  happiness  of  either  party." 

279.  Appointments  to  office ;  repeal  of  Federalist  laws ;  admission 
of  Ohio.  Jefferson  had  no  sooner  come  into  power  than  he  was  beset 
with  applications  for  office.  His  first  intention  was  to  let  those 
who  held  positions  remain  undisturbed.  "  Probably,"  said  he, 
"  not  twenty  will  be  removed,  and  those  only  for  doing  what  they 
ought  not  to  have  done."  But  a  little  later  he  felt  that  he  must 
yield  to  pressure  and  give  his  own  party  "  a  due  participation  of 
office,"  from  which,  he  declared,  they  had  been  wholly  excluded, 


1801-1803]    THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT      2/1 

The  only  way  to  do  this  was  to  remove  a  certain  proportion  of 
Federalists  ;  for,  said  he,  "few  die  and  none  resign."  He  declared 
that  as  soon  as  he  had  secured  to  the  Republicans  "  their  just, 
share,"  he  should  make  no  more  appointments  for  party  purposes, 
but  "  gladly  return  "  to  that  state  of  things  when  the  only  ques 
tions  respecting  a  candidate  would  be  :  "  Is  he  honest?  Is  he 
capable?  Is  he  faithful  to  the-  Constitution?  " 

In  the  course  of  the  first  fourteen  months  the  President  made 
only  sixteen  removals  without  showing  cause,  and  in  the  whole 
course  of  his  administration  he  made,  according  to  Von  Hoist,  but 
thirty-nine.  Other  authorities  claim  that  this  estimation  is  far  too 
low;  and  Jefferson  himself  stated  in  1803  that  out  of  316  offices 
only  130  continued  to  be  "  held  by  Federalists." 

In  its  turn  Congress  proceeded  to  pass  the  sponge  over  the 
slate  of  recent  Federalist  legislation.  It  repealed  the  Judiciary, 
Naturalization,  and  Excise  acts  (§§275,  271,  250).  The  obnox 
ious  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  had  already  expired  by  limitation 
(§271).  Congress  next  passed  the  twelfth  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  (Appendix,  page  xvii).  It  changed  the  form  of  the 
presidential  election  to  that  which  has  ever  since  been  followed. 

Early  in  1803  the  admission  of  Ohio  raised  the  total  number 
of  states  to  seventeen.  Like  two  of  the  three  new  states  which 
had  preceded  it  (§267),  Ohio  declared  in  favor  of  a  system  of 
pure  "  manhood  suffrage."  The  old  states  were  meanwhile  recon 
structing  their  constitutions  on  the  same  broad  lines.  The  change 
was  in  the  direction  of  Jefferson's  principle  of  trusting  everything  to 
"  the  good  sense  of  the  people  "  (§  256).  It  meant  that  the  time 
was  coming  when  the  votes  of  the  masses,  rather  than  those  of  the 
select  few,  would  control  the  destinies  of  the  Republic.1  In  fact 
less  than  two  generations  later  the  property  qualification  for  the  elec 
tive  franchise  had  been  practically  abolished  throughout  the  Union. 

Congress  made  a  grant  of  school  lands  to  the  state  of  Ohio, 
which  was  the  first  of  the  kind  in  our  history.  It  marked  the 

1  See  Gordy's  Political  History  of  the  United  States,  II,  338-340;  Thorpe's  Con 
stitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  I,  ch.  iii,  vii. 


2/2        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [isoi-1803 

beginning  of  that  wise  policy  "  by  which  public  education  became 
an  essential  part  of  Commonwealth  organization."  In  the  West, 
the  State  took  upon  itself  the  responsibility  of  giving  to  all  children 
the  advantage  of  public  instruction.1 

280.  Spain  cedes  Louisiana  to  France;  we  purchase  the  province 
(1803).  Not  long  after  Jefferson's  inauguration  news  was  received 
that  Napoleon  had  forced  Spain  to  cede  Louisiana  (§172)  to 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1803  AFTER  THE  PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA, 
WITH  BOUNDARY  OF  1819  (§318) 

West  Florida,  as  far  eastward  as  the  Perdido  River,  was  claimed  as  part  of  the 
purchase.  In  1802  Congress  added  all  that  remained  of  the  Northwest  Territory 
(§  237)  to  Indiana  Territory  (see  map  facing  page  268).  The  "  Oregon  Country  " 
was  held  jointly  with  Great  Britain 

France.  This  change  hemmed  us  in  between  two  powers  hos 
tile  to  each  other,  —  Great  Britain  on  the  north  and  France  on 
the  south  and  west.  Jefferson  fully  realized  the  gravity  of  the 
situation.  He  wrote  to  Chancellor  Livingston,  our  minister  at 
Paris,  saying  that  although  we  had  always  regarded  France  as 
our  "  friend,"  yet  we  could  no  longer  do  so  if  she  held  New 

1  See  Thorpe's  Constitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  I,  229,  230. 


1803]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        273 

Orleans.  The  possession  of  that  spot,  added  Jefferson,  makes 
her  "  our  natural  enemy."  Through  New  Orleans,  said  he,  the 
produce  of  three  eighths  of  our  territory  "  must  pass  to  market. 
France,  placing  herself  in  that  door,  assumes  to  us  the  attitude 
of  defiance." 

It  was  the  intention  of  Bonaparte  to  establish  a  military  des 
potism  at  New  Orleans.  "From  that  moment,"  said  Jefferson, 
"we  must  marry  ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and  nation."  Much 
as  he  disliked  war,  he  declared  that,  rather  than  abandon  our 
claim  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  and  see  the  west 
ern  states  severed  from  the  Union,  we  would  draw  the  sword  on 
France  and  "  throw  away  the  scabbard." 

But  the  President  hoped  to  come  to  an  amicable  understanding 
with  Bonaparte.  "  Peace,"  said  he,  "  is  our  passion."  Monroe 
was  dispatched  to  Paris  to  join  Livingston.  The  commissioners 
were  instructed  to  offer  as  high  as  $10,000,000  for  New  Orleans 
and  the  East  and  West  Floridas,  or  at  any  rate  to  secure,  if 
possible,  the  permanent  "right  of  deposit"  (§267)  at  New 
Orleans.  Before  Monroe  reached  his  destination  Bonaparte  had 
resolved  to  renew  the  war  with  England  (§  264),  and  to  our 
amazement  offered  to  sell  us  not  only  New  Orleans  but  the 
entire  province  of  Louisiana.  The  commissioners  negotiated  a 
treaty1  of  purchase  for  $15,000,000.  Thus  at  one  stroke  of  the 
pen  (1803),  as  Jefferson  declared,  we  "more  than  doubled 
the  area  of  the  Republic."  The  purchase  has  been  called  the 
greatest  single  real^-estate  transaction  recorded  in  modern  his 
tory.  It  practically  settled  the  question  of  the  United  States 
becoming  a  continental  power.  Out  of  the  magnificent  domain 
we  then  acquired,  have  been  carved  twelve  states  and  two 
territories. 

The  boundaries  of  Louisiana  were  not  clearly  defined,  and  it 
was  a  question  whether  Texas  or  any  part  of  West  Florida  was 
included  in  the  purchase.  The  treaty,  as  it  was  finally  agreed 
upon,  gave  us  absolute  control  of  the  Mississippi  and  secured 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  24. 


2/4          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1803 

to  us  the  whole  region  west  of  that  river  and  north  of  Texas  as 
far  back  as  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Eventually  the  area  of  our 
new  territory  was  found  to  be  nearly  1,172,000  square  miles. 
Later  (1810),  we  relinquished  all  claim  to  Texas  and  seized  West 
Florida.  The  foreign  population  of  Louisiana  held  a  number  of 
thousand  slaves  at  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis.  The  purchase 
treaty  virtually  recognized  their  legal  right  to  such  property  and 
guaranteed  that  all  free  white  inhabitants  of  the  territory  should 
be  incorporated  as  citizens  of  the  Union.  The  Territorial  Act  of 
1804  confirmed  these  rights.1 

281.  Question  of  the  constitutionality  of  the  Louisiana  purchase. 
Jefferson,  as  the  leader  of  the  "strict-construction"  party  (§  256), 
admitted  that  the  Constitution  did  not  authorize  the  government 
to  purchase  new  territory,  yet  he  felt  constrained  to  sign  the 
treaty.  He  believed  that  the  preservation  of  the  Union  depended 
on  keeping  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  open.  There  was 
no  time  to  discuss  questions  of  limitations  of  authority,  and  the 
President  resolved,  as  he  said,  "  to  shut  up  "  the  Constitution 
until  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  should  be  ratified ;  then  he  pro 
posed  asking  the  nation  to  justify  the  act  by  an  amendment  to 
that  instrument,  but  the  amendment  was  never  called  for.  A 
quarter  of  a  century  later,  the  Supreme  Court  decided  (1828)  that 
the  national  government  had  the  Constitutional  power  to  acquire 
new  territory  "  either  by  conquest  or  by  treaty."  2 

Notwithstanding  their  sympathies  with  "broad  construction" 
(§256),  the  extreme  Federalists  now  opposed  the  ratification  of 
the  purchase  of  "  an  unmeasured  world  beyond  the  Mississippi." 
They  declared  that  the  introduction  of  a  great  number  of  for 
eigners,  "  through  a  breach  of  the  Constitution,"  would  destroy 
the  existing  political  balance  and  render  the  New  England  states 
insignificant.  Others  feared  that  it  would  increase  the  power  of 

1  See  Semple's  American  History  and  its  Geographic  Conditions,  ch.  vi ;  Adams' 
United  States,  II,  ch.  ii-vi ;  Hosmer's  Louisiana  Purchase ;  Roosevelt's  The  Win 
ning  of  the  West,  III,  261 ;  McMaster's  United  States,  III,  13  ;  American  Historical 
Review,  April,  1904. 

2  See  Abstract  of  Constitutional  Decisions,  facing  page  266. 


1803-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        275 

slave  representation,  while  at  the  same  time  it  would  dangerously 
weaken  us  by  greatly  extending  the  line  which  we  must  defend 
against  foreign  invasion.  Finally,  the  question  was  raised  whether 
the  federal  government  could  successfully  exert  its  power  over 
such  an  enormous  territory. 

282.  Secession  plot;  Quincy's  threat;  results  of  the  Louisiana 
purchase.  In  consequence  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  a  few 
ultra  Federalists  endeavored  with  the  help  of  Aaron  Burr,  who  was 
then  Vice  President  (§  274),  to  organize  a  plot  for  separating  New 
England  and  New  York  from  the  Union.  Their  purpose  was  to 
form  an  independent  Northern  Confederacy ;  but  the  conspiracy 
failed  to  receive  any  substantial  encouragement. 

When  the  question  of  the  admission  of  the  lower  part  of  Louisiana 
as  a  slave  state  (§  280)  came  up  for  debate  (181 1),  Josiah  Quincy 
of  Massachusetts  violently  opposed  it  in  the  House.  He  said  : 
"  If  this  bill  passes,  it  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  it  is  virtually 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union ;  that  it  will  free  the  states  from  their 
moral  obligation  ;  and  as  it  will  be  the  right  of  all,  so  it  will  be 
the  duty  of  some,  definitely  to  prepare  for  a  separation,  amicably 
if  they  can,  violently  if  they  must."  ] 

Senator  Grundy  of  Tennessee  admitted,  a  little  later,  that  when 
the  recently  acquired  territory  should  become  "fully  peopled" 
the  northern  states  would  "  lose  their  power  "  and  would  then  be 
at  the  mercy  of  the  southern  section.  This  was  the  danger  which 
the  representative  from  Massachusetts  had  in  mind.  His  speech 
was  the  first  unmistakable  announcement  in  Congress  of  the 
doctrine  of -secession.  But  Quincy  in  this  respect  practically 
stood  alone,  for  Massachusetts  gave  its  assent  to  the  admission  of 
the  new  state. 

In  reviewing  the  acquisition  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  we 
see  that  it  eventually  had  five  important  results  :  (i)  it  secured  to 
us  the  port  of  New  Orleans,  the  entire  control  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  more  than  doubled  the  area  of  the  United  States ;  (2)  it 
strengthened  the  bond  of  union  in  the  southwest ;  (3)  it  gave  new 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I,  180. 


276        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [isos-1805 

force  to  arguments  for  "  internal  improvements,"  —  the  building 
of  roads  and  canals  to  connect  the  East  and  the  West ;  and,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  acquisition  of  California,  it  later  made  the 
Pacific  railway  a  necessity ;  (4)  it  added  a  foreign  slaveholding 
population  at  New  Orleans  and  at  St.  Louis  (§  280),  and  it  opened 
up  an  immense  field  for  the  "  conflict  between  slavery  and  free 
dom  "  ;  (5)  finally,  it  weakened  "  strict  construction  "  (§  256)  and 
encouraged  the  opposite  interpretation  of  the  Constitution. 

283.  Expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark  (1804-1806).  In  the 
spring  following  the  purchase  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  Jeffer 
son  sent  out  Lewis  and  Clark  to  explore  the  Missouri  to  its 
source  and  to  push  forward  to  the  Pacific.  The  expedition 
started  in  three  boats  from  St.  Louis  (May,  1804).  The  party 
spent  the  entire  summer  laboriously  working  their  way  upstream 
against  the  powerful  current,  their  average  progress  not  exceed 
ing  nine  miles  a  day.  At  the  end  of  the  season  they  went  into 
winter  quarters  at  a  point  not  very  far  above  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Bismarck,  North  Dakota. 

The  next  spring,  taking  an  Indian  woman  for  their  guide,  they 
set  out  again  on  their  journey  through  the  great  "  Lone  Land." 
By  midsummer  they  had  passed  through  the  wild  gorge  of  the 
Missouri  known  as  the  "Gates  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  and 
soon  afterward  reached  the  site  of  what  is  now  the  capital  of 
Montana.  In  August  (1805)  they  arrived  at  a  point  where  they 
could  bestride  the  headwaters  of  that  great  stream  which  they 
had  so  long  been  ascending  and  which  had  seemed  to  them  well- 
nigh  endless. 

A  few  days  later,  they  stood  on  the  "  Crown  of  the  Continent," 
in  the  midst  of  that  wonderful  knot  of  ridges  and  peaks  from 
which  rise  the  Columbia  (§  258),  the  Colorado,  and  the  Missouri. 
Early  in  October  (1805)  they  embarked  in  log  canoes  on  the 
Clear  Water,  a  tributary  of  the  Columbia,  and  began  to  paddle 
their  way  downward  toward  the  setting  sun.  In  November  they 
heard  the  roar  of  breakers  through  the  fog;  when  it  lifted  they 
beheld  the  Pacific,  —  "  that  ocean,"  says  Lewis,  which  was  "  the 


1805-1806]     THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    2/7 

object  of  all  our  labors,  the  reward  of  all  our  anxieties."  On 
their  return  Clark's  party  struck  southward  and  came  down  the 
valley  of  the  Yellowstone ;  the  joint  expedition  reached  St.  Louis 
in  the  autumn  of  1806  (see  map,  §  405). 

In  the  course  of  about  two  years  and  a  half  the  exploring  party 
had  traveled  over  eight  thousand  miles,  through  a  region  which 
no  white  man  was  known  to  have  crossed  before.  They  had  found 
practicable  passes  through  the  Rocky  Mountains,  confirmed  our 
claim  to  the  "Oregon  Country"  (§258),  and  opened  the  way  to  the 
valley  of  the  Columbia  and  the  Pacific  slope.  Furthermore,  they 
furnished  us  with  our  first  definite  knowledge  of  that  magnificent 
territory  in  which  twelve  great  states,  with  a  population  of  many 
millions,  have  since  "arisen  in  the  wilderness."  At  the  same  time 
Lieutenant  Z.  M.  Pike  explored  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi 
(1806)  and  measured  the  lofty  peak  in  the  Rocky  Mountains 
which  now  bears  his  name. 

284.  Prosperity  of  the  country;  the  presidential  election.    When 
Jefferson  entered  office  the   national  debt  amounted   to  nearly 
$83,000,000,  and  the  rate  of  taxation  was  heavy;  by  judicious 
management  Gallatin,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  paid  off  a  large 
part  of  the  debt,  and  at  the  same  time  induced  Congress  to  repeal 
the  excise  duties  (§  250).    Meanwhile  commerce  was  making  rapid 
gains  and  the  country  generally  enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  prosperity. 

The  Democratic- Republicans  nominated  Jefferson  (1804)  for  a 
second  term ;  he  was  elected  under  the  new  system  established 
by  the  twelfth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (§  279)  (with 
George  Clinton  as  Vice  President) ,  by  an  overwhelming  majority 
over  C.  C.  Pinckney,  the  Federalist  candidate,  the  electoral  vote 
standing  162  to  14. 

Jefferson  said,  "the  people  in  mass  have  joined  us"  ;  the  truth 
was  that  a  fusion  of  parties  had  gradually  taken  place,  the 
Federalists  having  been  Republicanized,  and  the  Republicans  or 
Democrats  Federalized. 

285.  Jefferson's  second  inauguration  (1805) ;  "internal  improve 
ments"  ;    peace  with  Tripoli.    In  his  second  inaugural  Jefferson 


278          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [isos- 

bade  the  people  look  forward  to  the  extinction  of  the  entire  public 
debt.  Then,  he  said,  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  would 
enable  Congress  to  expend  the  surplus  revenue  in  making  roads, 
canals,  and  other  "internal  improvements."  The  next  year  (1806) 
a  Republican  Congress,  without  waiting  for  such  an  amendment, 
appropriated  $30,000  toward  constructing  "  a  national  road  "  from 
Cumberland,  Maryland,  to  the  Ohio  River ;  but  the  first  mile  of 
this  famous  highway  (§  328)  was  not  begun  until  five  years  later 
(1811).  Never  before  had  the  general  government  undertaken 
any  work  of  this  kind. 

Before  the  year  closed  our  navy  (§  270)  gained  a  brilliant 
triumph  over  the  Barbary  pirates  (§§  249,  267).  When  near  the 
end  of  Adams'  administration  Captain  Bainbridge  was  sent  out 
(1800)  to  pay  the  Dey  of  Algiers  his  annual  tribute  (§267), 
that  potentate  treated  him  with  such  insolence  that  Bainbridge 
indignantly  wrote,  "I  hope.  I  shall  never  again  be  sent  to  Algiers 
with  tribute  unless  I  am  authorized  to  deliver  it  from  the  mouths 
of  our  cannon."  Shortly  afterward  the  pasha  of  Tripoli  declared 
war  against  us  because  we  had  not  promptly  met  his  exorbitant 
demands  for  money. 

Jefferson  dispatched  a  squadron  to  blockade  Tripoli;  the 
vessels  drew  too  much  water  to  be  very  effective,  but  Rodgers, 
Decatur,  and  Hull  made  themselves  a  memorable  record.  When 
the  squadron  was  reenforced  with  lighter  vessels,  Commodore 
Preble  (1805)  speedily  compelled  the  pasha  to  drop  his  demands 
and  beg  for  peace ;  a  final  treaty,  however,  was  not  made  with 
the  Barbary  states  until  a  number  of  years  later  (1814). 

The  pope  was  especially  pleased  at  the  chastisement  which 
Preble  had  inflicted  on  the  Mohammedan  corsairs,  and  declared 
that  the  American  officer  had  done  more  to  humble  those  insolent 
barbarians  than  all  the  Christian  nations  of  Europe  had  ever 
accomplished. 

But  the  most  important  result  of  the  war  with  the  pirates  of 
the  Mediterranean  was  that  it  served  as  a  training  school  to  our 
victorious  naval  commanders  for  the  War  of  1812. 


1807-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        2/9 

286.  The  first  steamboat  on  the  Hudson  (1807)  and  in  the  West 
(1811).  We  have  seen  (§§  258,  278)  that  one  of  the  most  per 
plexing  questions  in  the  growth  of  the  United  States  was  how 
to  secure  cheap  and  rapid  communication  and  transportation 
between  the  East  and  West.  The  political  unity  of  the  nation 
seemed  to  depend  on  the  successful  solution  of  this  difficult 
problem.  It  had  taken  Lewis  and  Clark  (§283)  a  full  year  to 
cross  the  national  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi.  There  was 
something  disheartening  in  the  thought  of  endeavoring  to  bring 
such  an  unbounded  wilderness  under  the  control  of  a  government 
which  had  its  capital  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  thousands  of  miles 
away.  Few  men  of  that  time  seriously  believed  that  a  Union 
so  vast  could  be  permanently  maintained ;  certainly  Jefferson  did 
not,  for  one  (§  278). 

But  an  inventor  had  already  devised  the  first  successful  means 
for  navigating  the  great  rivers  and  inland  waters  of  the  United 
States.  His  work  would  go  far  toward  making  it  possible  to  unite 
the  two  sides  of  the  continent. 

Many  experiments  had  already  been  made  in  propelling  boats 
by  steam.  At  one  time  John  Fitch  and  Oliver  Evans  seemed 
likely  to  accomplish  it,  but  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 
Latrobe,  the  most  eminent  engineer  in  the  country,  reported  as 
late  as  1803  that  nothing  had  been  done  which  promised  prac 
tical  success.  Fitch  came  nearest  to  it;  but  lack  of  capital 
forced  him  to  abandon  the  field,  and  in  despair  he  took  his  own 
life.  He  left  this  prophecy :  "  The  day  will  come  when  some 
more  powerful  man  will  get  fame  and  riches  by  my  invention." 
Robert  Fulton  was  that  "more  powerful  man."  Aided  by  Chan 
cellor  Livingston's  purse,  he  built  and  launched  the  Clermont 
at  New  York.  The  vessel  was  a  side-wheel  steamboat  equipped 
with  an  engine  imported  from  England.  Late  in  the  summer  of 
1807  Fulton  made  his  first  voyage  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany.1 

Sailing  vessels  usually  took  three  days  to  reach  that  point; 
Fulton  accomplished  the  journey  in  thirty-two  hours.  The 
1  See  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  108. 


280          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [180&- 

problem  was  solved ;  a  vessel  had  at  last  been  constructed  that 
would  push  its  way  against  wind,  tide,  and  current.  The  steam 
boat  soon  began  making  regular  trips  on  the  Hudson,  and  Fulton 
and  Livingston  secured  the  monopoly  of  steam  navigation  in 
New  York  state  for  twenty  years. 

In  1 8 1 1  Fulton  launched  a  steamboat  at  Pittsburg  which  made 
the  voyage  to  New  Orleans.  Within  seven  years  from  that  date 
steamboats  were  carrying  passengers  and  freight  not  only  on  the 
Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  but  on  several  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Fulton  said  with  truth  that  he  had  given  the  country  "  the  most 
efficient  instrument  yet  conceived  for  developing  the  West," 
or,  as  he  might  have  added,  for  maintaining  the  stability  of  the 
Union. 

287.  The  Burr  conspiracy.  Singularly  enough,  while  Fulton 
was  occupied  in  perfecting  the  material  means  for  binding  the 
country  together,  a  formidable  plot  against  the  nation's  life  was 
discovered.  Aaron  Burr,  while  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States  (§  274),  challenged  Hamilton,  his  political  opponent  and 
personal  enemy,  and  killed  him  in  a  duel  (1804).  Burr  was 
indicted  for  murder  and  fled  South  to  escape  arrest.  His  pros 
pects  were  ruined  and  he  became  desperate.  Miranda,  a  citizen 
of  one  of  the  Spanish  provinces  in  South  America,  was  then  con 
cocting  a  scheme  for  overthrowing  the  power  of  Spain  on  the 
American  continent.  Miranda's  expedition  may  have  suggested 
the  project  which  Burr  conceived. 

Burr's  plan  was  to  raise  an  armed  force  in  the  Southwest,  drive 
out  the  Spaniards  from  Mexico,  and  establish  a  great  Southern 
Confederacy  composed  of  the  states  and  territories  west  of  the 
Alleghenies,  united  with  the  Mexican  possessions.  He  hoped  to 
get  the  aid  of  Great  Britain  in  carrying  out  this  gigantic  plot, 
and  he  appears  to  have  had  no  difficulty  in  persuading  James  Wil 
kinson,  general  in  chief  of  the  United  States  army,  to  join  him.1 
Burr  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  an  Irish  gentleman  named 
Blennerhasset  who  resided  on  Blennerhasset  Island  in  the  Ohio, 

1  See  Winsor's  America,  VII,  338  ;  Adams'  United  States,  III,  ch.  x-xiv. 


FITCH'S  STEAMBOAT,  1785 
John  Fitch's  Letter  on  his  Steamboat 


FULTON'S  STEAMBOAT,  1807 


1806-1807]     THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    281 

some  distance  southwest  of  Marietta.  The  smooth-tongued  con 
spirator  easily  induced  the  latter  to  mortgage  his  estate  to  raise 
money  for  carrying  out  the  scheme.  By  this  means  Burr  obtained 
boats  and  arms  and  recruited  about  a  hundred  men. 

General  Wilkinson,  who  was  later  charged  with  being  Burr's 
accomplice,  was  then  at  New  Orleans;  he  sent  information  of  the 
plot  to  the  President.  Jefferson  issued  a  proclamation  (1806) 
ordering  the  arrest  of  the  expedition.  Burr  hastily  disbanded  his 
men  at  Natchez  and  took  to  the  woods.  He  was  speedily  appre 
hended1  and  was  tried  (1807)  for  treason  before  Chief  Justice 
Marshall.  Marshall  ruled  that  no  satisfactory  evidence  of  overt 
treason  had  been  offered,  and  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
"  not  guilty."  Burr  soon  afterward  disappeared  from  public  life 
and  died  in  obscurity  in  New  York  many  years  later. 

288.  The  French  and  English  war  and  American  commerce. 
After  a  brief  peace  (§§  261,  280)  Bonaparte  and  George  III  had 
resumed  hostilities  (1803).  England  fought  in  behalf  of  consti 
tutional  liberty  and  for  self-preservation ;  Bonaparte  fought  for 
military  despotism  and  to  extend  the  power  of  France.  Fleets 
of  English  cruisers  swept  the  French  merchantmen  from  the  seas, 
and  thus  threw  all  trade  between  France  and  her  colonies  into 
the  hands  of  American  shipowners.  In  order  to  prevent  France 
from  getting  the  relief  given  by  our  merchant  vessels,  England 
revived  the  "Rule  of  1756."  That  rule  declared  that  no  Euro 
pean  nation  which  shut  its  colonial  ports  against  freedom  of  trade 
in  time  of  peace  (as  France  did  in  common  with  other  mother- 
countries)  should  be  permitted  to  open  its  ports  to  direct  neutral 
trade  in  time  of  war. 

By  enforcing  that  regulation  England  hoped  to  destroy  all 
commercial  communication  between  France  and  her  foreign 
possessions,  and  so  cripple  her  enemy's  resources  for  carrying 
on  the  war.  This  measure,  however,  proved  ineffective,  and 
indeed,  so  far  as  America  was  concerned,  it  actually  increased 
our  commerce.  For  though  our  merchantmen  could  no  longer 
1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  25. 


282        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [isoc-iso? 

act  as  direct  carriers  between  France  and  her  colonies,  nothing 
prohibited  us  from  bringing  the  products  of  the  French  West 
Indies  to  the  United  States  and  then  shipping  them  to  France 
as  American  exports.  By  taking  that  course  we  easily  evaded  the 
"  Rule  of  1756  "  and  obtained  double  freights  on  our  own  terms. 

Later,  when  Spain  and  Holland  became  involved  in  the  Euro 
pean  conflict,  the  neutral  ships  of  the  United  States  secured  a 
practical  monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world.  Sir  James 
Stephen  denounced  this  indirect  commerce  carried  on  by  Ameri 
can  shipowners  as  a  fraud  committed  under  the  protection  of  a 
neutral  flag  and  as  a  species  of  "war  in  disguise."  England 
then  (1805)  declared  this  trade  an  evasion  of  the  spirit  of  the 
"Rule  of  175  6  "and  ordered  her  cruisers  to  put  a  stop  to  it. 
This  decision  virtually  restricted  American  commerce  to  American 
productions. 

289.  British  "  Orders  in  Council "  versus  Napoleon's  Decrees ; 
the  "Leopard"  and  the  "Chesapeake."  The  next  year  (1806) 
Great  Britain  issued  an  "  Order  in  Council,"  which  declared  the 
coast  of  Europe  from  Brest  to  the  Elbe  in  blockade.  Napoleon, 
who  was  now  emperor,  retorted  with  his  Berlin  Decree  (1806), 
proclaiming  a  "  paper  blockade  "  of  the  British  Isles.  England 
retaliated  by  a  new  "Order  in  Council"  (1807),  which  forbade 
Americans  or  other  neutrals  carrying  any  products  to  France  or 
her  allies  except  on  two  conditions.  These  were  that  such  vessels 
should  undergo  search  by  English  authorities  for  goods  "  contra 
band  of  war,"  or  that  they  should  enter  an  English  port  and  pay 
duties  on  their  cargoes.  This  order  practically  prohibited  neutral 
trade  with  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe. 

Napoleon  at  once  issued  (1807)  his  Milan  Decree.  It  pro 
hibited  all  trade  with  Great  Britain  or  her  colonies,  and  ordered 
the  seizure  of  any  vessel  which  should  submit  to  search  by  Eng 
land  or  should  pay  any  duties  to  the  English  government.  The 
emperor's  threat,  however,  did  not  prove  very  serious,  for  the 
battle  of  Trafalgar  (1805)  had  so  crippled  the  French  navy  that 
they  could  not  enforce  his  decree  on  the  Atlantic. 


1807]         THE    UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        283 

On  the  other  hand,  English  men-of-war  blockaded  our  ports, 
searched  every  outgoing  vessel,  and  impressed  great  numbers  of 
American  seamen  (§  264).  Congress  remonstrated  and  put  in 
force  (1807)  a  Non-Importation  Act  which  shut  out  most  English 
goods  from  American  markets ;  but  search  and  impressment  con 
tinued  to  go  on  as  before.  As  a  matter  of  fact  many  sailors 
deserted  English  men-of-war  when  in  our  ports  and  openly 
entered  the  American  service.  England  was  determined  to 
recover  her  own  seamen,  but  stated  that  she  had  no  intention 
of  seizing  ours.  We  declared  that  we  had  no  desire  to  harbor 
or  employ  her  runaway  men ;  but  notwithstanding  these  avowals, 
neither  government  found  an  effective  remedy  for  the  grievance 
of  which  it  complained. 

Finally,  matters  reached  a  climax.  Vice  Admiral  Berkeley  of 
the  British  service,  having  lost  a  number  of  his  seamen  by  deser 
tion,  issued  orders  to  stop  the  American  frigate  Chesapeake 
and  search  for  the  missing  sailors.  In  taking  this  action,  he 
declared  that  he  recognized  our  right  to  pursue  the  same  course 
toward  any  English  man-of-war.  Under  these  instructions  His 
Majesty's  frigate  Leopard  (1807)  overhauled  the  Chesapeake 
and  forcibly  removed  four  seamen,  one  of  whom  was  hanged 
at  Halifax  as  a  deserter.  This  outrage,  said  Jefferson,  roused 
the  United  States  to  a  pitch  of  excitement  not  equaled  "  since 
the  battle  of  Lexington." 

The  President  at  once  issued  a  proclamation  (1807)  ordering 
all  British-armed  vessels  to  leave  our  waters ;  and  Congress 
demanded  reparation  for  the  insult  to  our  flag.  Eventually  the 
English  government  restored  (1811)  the  three  surviving  sailors 
to  the  decks  of  the  Chesapeake. 

290.  The  Embargo  Act  (1807); l  opposition  to  the  act  in  New 
England.  It  now  seemed  probable  that  both  England  and  France 
would  impose  new  and  more  stringent  restrictions  on  American 
trade  with  Europe.  In  such  a  crisis  war  was  imminent.  Jefferson 
therefore  resolved  to  try  the  effect  of  what  he  called  "peaceable 
1  See  Adams'  United  States,  IV,  ch.  vii,  xi,  xii,  xv. 


284        THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1807-1809 

coercion."  Before  news  of  the  Milan  Decree  was  received  (§  289) 
he  recommended  Congress  to  pass  an  unlimited  Embargo  Act, 
whereas  the  previous  embargo  (§  265)  had  been  in  force  for  only 
sixty  days.  Such  a  measure  by  detaining  our  vessels  in  port 
would  save  them  and  their  crews  from  capture ;  next,  it  would, 
it  was  'hoped,  cut  off  large  supplies  of  food  from  both  combat 
ants  and  perhaps  starve  them  into  making  terms  with  us. 

Congress  passed  the  act1  late  in  1807,  and  subsequently 
strengthened  it  by  additional  legislation  (1808-1809).  The 
embargo  entirely  closed  our  ports  to  all  trade  with  foreign  coun 
tries.  American  merchantmen  were  forbidden  to  sail.  Coasting 
and  fishing  craft  were  permitted  to  go  out,  but  only  on  condition 
that  their  owners  gave  bonds  in  double  the  value  of  vessel  and 
cargo  that  they  would  not  land  goods  or  produce  outside  of  the 
United  States. 

The  opposition  party  denounced  the  suppression  of  commerce 
as  suicidal.  They  declared  that  it  would  be  far  better  to  risk 
vessels  and  crew  in  foreign  trade  than  to  give  up  that  trade  alto 
gether.  They  spelled  the  hated  word  "  embargo  "  backward  and 
so  formed  it  into  the  "O-grab-me  Act."  They  called  it  the  boa 
constrictor  which  was  crushing  the  life  out  of  every  American 
industry ;  and  the  youthful  Bryant  wrote  a  satirical  poem  on  it, 
for  which  there  was  a  great  demand.  Prices  dropped  ruinously ; 
the  farmer  could  not  sell  his  wheat,  the  planter  found  no  market 
for  his  cotton,  rice,  or  tobacco. 

But  the  heaviest  immediate  loss  fell  on  New  England,  where 
capital  was  most  largely  invested  in  commercial  pursuits.  The 
once  busy  ports  seemed  smitten  with  a  pestilence ;  dismantled 
ships  rotted  in  the  docks,  merchants  became  bankrupt,  and 
thousands  of  sailors  were  reduced  to  beggary.  In  a  single  year 
our  exports  fell  off  from  $49,000,000  to  $9,000,000.  The  cus 
tomhouses  were  closed  and  the  government  ceased  to  draw  any 
revenue  from  commerce.  Smuggling  soon  sprang  up  on  an 
extensive  scale  on  the  Canada  and  the  Florida  borders, 
l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  27. 


1809]        THE   UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        285 

291.  The  "  Force  Act  ";   Napoleon  and  the  embargo.    To  stop 
evasion   of    the    embargo    Congress   passed    the    "  Force   Act " 
(1809).     It  prohibited  the  loading  of  any  boat  or  vessel  except 
by  permit  from  the  collector  of  the  port,  and  under  the  eye  of  a 
revenue  officer.     Furthermore,  the  collector  had  orders  to  seize 
produce  or  goods  found  in  any  wagons  or  other  vehicles* going 
toward  the  seacoast  or  toward  the  boundary  line,  and  hold  them 
until  the  owner  gave  bonds  that  they  should  not  be  taken  out  of 
the  country.     To  prevent  resistance  the  act  authorized  the  Presi 
dent  to  employ  the  land  and  the  naval  forces  of  the  United  States 
and  the  state  militia  in  carrying  out  the  law. 

In  New  England  the  "Force  Act"  was  denounced  as  despotic, 
and  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  virtually  nullified  it  by  declar 
ing  it  "  unconstitutional  and  not  legally  binding."  The  Federalist 
newspapers  of  Boston  came  out  in  mourning  :  one  said,  "  Liberty  is 
dead  "  ;  another  took  for  its  motto,  "  Resistance  to  arbitrary  laws  is 
duty  to  God."  Numerous  handbills  were  distributed,  warning  the 
people  that  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  were  destroyed,  and 
that  they  must  now  choose  between  "  civil  war  or  slavery."  A 
hundred  towns  in  Massachusetts  sent  in  resolutions  to  the  General 
Court  condemning  the  President  and  the  embargo.  In  the  other 
New  England  states  the  same  spirit  manifested  itself. 

Abroad  the  embargo  failed  to  coerce  the  combatants  into 
respect  for  American  rights.  Our  minister  to  Paris  wrote  that 
in  France  it  was  "  not  felt,"  and  that  in  England  it  was  "  for 
gotten."  Napoleon  declared  that  he  positively  liked  it,  and 
ironically  added  that  he  would  help  President  Jefferson  enforce 
it.  He  accordingly  issued  his  Bayonne  Decree  (1808).  By  it 
he  ordered  the  confiscation  of  all  American  vessels  then  found 
in  France,  Italy,  or  the  Hanse  Towns,  or  that  should  enter  these 
ports  later,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  violated  the  embargo. 

292.  Results  of  the  embargo  ;  its  repeal  (1809)  ;  Non-Intercourse 
Act ;  presidential  election.    But  at  home  the  embargo  had  two 
advantageous  results,  —  one  economic,  the  other  political.     The 
shutting  out  of  European  goods  and  the  prohibition  of  commercial 


286  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1809 

intercourse  forced  the  capital  and  industry  of  New  England  to 
establish  home  manufactures.  The  looms  of  the  farmers'  wives 
were  soon  able  to  supply  "  two  thirds  of  the  clothing  and  the  house 
linen  of  the  United  States  outside  of  the  cities,"  while  in  less  than 
two  years  the  number  of  spindles  in  the  cotton  mills  increased 
from  "eight  thousand  to  eighty  thousand."  Shoe,  hat,  and  other 
factories  prospered ;  Massachusetts  sent  nails,  and  Connecticut 
tinware  and  clocks,  to  all  parts  of  the  country.  Furthermore, 
many  new  and  important  industries  sprang  up  not  only  in  New 
England  but  in  other  states. 

Politically  the  embargo  pushed  still  farther  that  "broad  con 
struction"  of  the  Constitution  (§256)  which  Jefferson  had 
temporarily  adopted  in  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  (§  280).  Cer 
tainly  it  postponed  war  for  a  number  of  years.  But  whatever 
advantages  were  reaped  from  Jefferson's  "  peaceable  coercion," 
it  created  dangerous  irritation  in  the  Northeast.  John  Quincy 
Adams  at  length  (1809)  told  the  President  that  the  embargo 
could  no  longer  be  safely  enforced  in  that  quarter.  He  stated 
that  he  had  good  reason  to  believe  that  some  leading  New  Eng 
land  Federalists  had  formed  a  plot  to  detach  the  northeastern 
states  and  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  England. 

The  men  who  were  accused  of  being  engaged  in  this  plot  indig 
nantly  denied  it ;  but  the  pressure  on  the  government  for  the 
removal  of  the  embargo  became  irresistible.  Jefferson  said  a 
majority  in  Congress  were  convinced  that  they  must  choose 
between  repeal  or  civil  war.  The  result  was  that  the  law  was 
repealed  early  in  1809.  Congress  then  (1809)  passed  a  Non- 
Intercourse  Act1  or  partial  embargo,  which  opened  our  ports  to 
all  nations  except  England  and  France.  John  Randolph,  who 
led  a  small  independent  political  party  called  the  "  Quids,"  said 
such  a  measure  was  simply  ridiculous  and  like  firing  a  pocket 
pistol  at  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar. 

In  the  presidential  election  the  chief  candidates  were  James 
Madison  (§  273),  who  was  now  a  Democratic-Republican,  and 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  28. 


1809]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        287 

C.  C.  Pinckney,  Federalist.  Madison  was  elected,  with  George 
Clinton  as  Vice  President;  the  electoral  vote  stood  122  to  47. 

Jefferson  had  lost  his  popularity  and  was  anxious  to  retire  to 
"  the  shades  of  Monticello."  "  Never,"  said  he,  "did  a  prisoner 
released  from  his  chains"  "  feel  such  relief  as  I  shall  on  shaking 
off  the  shackles  of  power." 

293.  Summary.  Jefferson's  administration  began,  as  he  be 
lieved,  a  "  political  revolution."  By  his  election  the  Republican  or 
Democratic  party  came  into  power,  and  continued  to  hold  it  with 
out  a  break  for  nearly  forty  years.  Under  Jefferson  the  United 
States  effected  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  by  which  the  area  of  the 
Republic  was  more  than  doubled,  and  the  question  of  slavery  exten 
sion  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  opened.  Soon  afterward  the 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  explored  the  far  West  and  helped  to 
confirm  our  title  to  the  "Oregon  Country."  Fulton's  steamboat 
made  rapid  communication  with  the  greater  part  of  the  country  pos 
sible,  and  so  materially  strengthened  the  bonds  of  union  which  the 
Burr  conspiracy  attempted  to  break.  Abroad  the  insolence  of  the 
Barbary  pirates  was  humbled.  Later,  the  interference  of  England 
and  France  with  our  foreign  trade  joined  to  impressment  disputes 
led  to  an  embargo  which  produced  important  economic  and 
political  effects.  When  the  Embargo  Act  was  repealed  it  was 
succeeded  by  the  Non-Intercourse,  or  partial  embargo,  Act. 


JAMES  MADISON  (DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN),  Two  TERMS 
(1809-1817) 

294.  Temporary  renewal  of  trade   with  Great  Britain.     Not 

long  after  Madison's  inauguration  (§  292)  Erskine,  the  English 
minister  at  Washington,  announced  himself  "  authorized  to 
declare"  that  the  British  "Orders  in  Council"  (§289)  would 
be  withdrawn  on  the  tenth  of  June.  Madison  at  once  issued  a 
proclamation  which  suspended  the  Non-Intercourse  Act  (§  292) 
and  renewed  friendly  relations  with  England.  Great  were  the 


288        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [isw-isio 

rejoicings  among  shipowners  and  sailors.  Hundreds  of  vessels 
were  quickly  made  ready  for  sea,  and  in  a  few  weeks  upwards 
of  a  thousand  American  merchantmen  had  left  our  ports  laden 
with  "  the  accumulation  of  nearly  two  years'  produce." 

Three  months  later,  dispatches  came  from  England  stating  that 
Erskine  had  not  followed  his  official  instructions  and  that  the 
"  Orders  in  Council "  not  only  remained  in  force  but  had  been 
increased  in  stringency  by  the  blockade,  on  paper,  of  the  whole 
of  France,  Italy,  and  Holland.  President  Madison,  angry  and 
perplexed,  found  himself  "under  the  mortifying  necessity"  of 
issuing  a  new  proclamation  (1809)  reviving  the  Non-Intercourse 
Act  (§  292)  against  Great  Britain. 

295.  The  Macon  Act;  Napoleon's  policy.  The  next  spring 
(1810)  Congress  passed  the  Macon  Act.  It  took  off  restrictions 
on  commerce,  but  so  far  as  England  or  France  was  concerned  it 
forbade  intercourse  with  the  nation  that  continued  to  maintain 
measures  hostile  to  our  trade. 

Napoleon,  by  his  secret  Rambouillet  Decree  (1810),  had 
ordered  the  sale  of  American  ships  and  cargoes  to  the  value  of 
$10,000,000,  and  had  thrown  several  hundred  American  sailors  into 
prison.  While  the  emperor  was  making  ready  to  sweep  this  goodly 
sum  into  his  "  strong  box  "  he  received  a  copy  of  the  Macon  Act. 
He  immediately  assured  our  government  that  he  loved  the  Ameri 
cans,  and  pledged  himself  to  revoke  or  suspend  all  of  his  decrees 
(§  289)  against  our  commerce,  provided  Great  Britain  would  with 
draw  her  "Orders  in  Council "  (§  289),  or  that  the  United  States 
would  cause  its  "  rights  to  be  respected  by  the  English." 

President  Madison  was  so  moved  by  the  emperor's  assurance 
that  he  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  all  trade  restrictions 
against  France  revoked.  Later,  when  it  was  found  that  Great 
Britain  had  no  intention  of  withdrawing  her  "Orders  in  Council," 
Congress  reaffirmed  non-intercourse  with  that  country  (§  294). 
Napoleon  had  won  his  game.  First,  he  had  embroiled  us  anew 
with  England ;  secondly,  by  his  pretended  good  will  he  had 
drawn  more  of  our  ships  into  the  trap  set  to  catch  them  when 


1809-1811]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    289 

they  should  arrive  in  French  ports ;  finally,  he  kept  his  cruisers 
busy  burning  or  plundering  our  vessels  on  the  ocean. 

296.  Tecumseh  and  the  "Prophet."    While  our  relations  with 
England  and  France  were  becoming  strained  almost  to  the  war 
point,  a  decisive  battle  with  the  Indians  was  fought  in  the  West. 
It  was  perhaps  inevitable  that  conflicts  should  spring  up  between 
the  western  settlers  and  the  aborigines.    The  interests  of  the  two 
races  clashed  (§  31).    The  whites  were  eager  to  get  possession  of 
the  Indian  hunting  grounds,  and  many  of  the  red  men,  debased 
by  drink  and  harassed  with  debt,  were  ready  to  sell  their  lands 
for  the  first  offer. 

The  better  class  of  Indians  saw  clearly  that  unless  this  process 
could  be  checked  the  tribes  must  soon  choose  between  starvation 
and  emigration.  Tecumseh  and  his  brother,  the  "  Prophet,"  two 
Indians  of  the  Wabash  Valley,  were  the  leaders  in  a  great  move 
ment  of  reform  and  reorganization.  Their  object  was  to  suppress 
the  use  of  liquor  among  their  people  and  to  create  a  league  of 
all  the  northern  and  southern  tribes.  In  this  proposed  Indian 
republic  a  congress  of  warriors  was  to  have  absolute  control  over 
all  lands,  so  that  none  could  be  sold  without  their  consent.  As  a 
center  for  this  movement,  Tecumseh  and  the  "Prophet"  founded 
a  village  in  the  territory  of  Indiana  at  the  mouth  of  Tippecanoe 
Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Wabash. 

297.  Harrison  and  Tecumseh ;  Tippecanoe.   William  Henry  Har 
rison,  the  military  governor  of  the  territory,  had  recently  (1809) 
purchased  for  the  United  States  an  immense  tract  of  land  from 
remnants  of  tribes  in  the  Wabash  Valley.    Tecumseh  believed  that 
this  purchase  had  not  been  fairly  made.     He  said  to  Governor 
Harrison  :    "  You  are  continually  driving  the  red  people ;  at  last 
you  will  drive  them  into  the  Great   Lake."     He  insisted   that 
the  recent  land  cession   should   be  annulled ;    in  that  case  he 
pledged  himself  to  be  our  faithful  ally ;  otherwise  he  threatened 
to  begin  hostilities. 

Believing  that  war  was  inevitable,  General  Harrison,  late  in  the 
autumn  of  181 1,  advanced  toward  Tippecanoe  village  with  a  force 


290        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [isn-1812 

of  about  a  thousand  men.  The  Indians  attempted  to  surprise 
him ;  a  battle  ensued  in  which  the  attacking  party  was  decisively 
defeated.  Harrison  then  advanced  and  burned  the  deserted 
Indian  village.  At  the  time  of  the  battle  Tecumseh  was  absent 
in  the  South.  When  the  War  of  1812  began  he  joined  the  English 
forces  in  Canada.  The  victory  of  Tippecanoe  was  important 
because  it  effectually  checked  Tecumseh's  project  of  establishing 
a  powerful  and  perhaps  hostile  Indian  confederation,  and  it 
opened  up  a  vast  region  to  white  settlers.  In  this  way  Harrison's 
success  proved  to  be  an  important  factor  in  developing  the  West. 

298.  The  "Little  Belt";  the  war  party;  the  Henry  letters. 
On  the  sea  (1811)  the  English  sloop  of  war  Little  Belt  had 
attacked,  either  purposely  or  by  mistake,  the  American  frigate 
President.  The  Little  Bdt  got  the  worst  of  the  battle  and  barely 
escaped  destruction.  Our  grievances  against  England  were  great. 
Aside  from  her  exercise  of  search  (§  289)  and  her  impressment  of 
several  thousand  of  our  sailors  (§§  264,  289),  she  had  captured 
since  1803  more  than  nine  hundred  of  our  vessels. 

On  the  other  hand,  France  had  confiscated  or  destroyed  Amer 
ican  property  worth  many  millions,  and  cast  hundreds  of  our 
sailors  into  prison ;  when  we  asked  for  redress  Napoleon  deliber 
ately  deceived  and  insulted  us  (§  295). 

Two  young  men  in  Congress,  Henry  Clay,  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  John  C.  Calhoun,  were  the  leaders  of  a  strong  war 
party  which  was  growing  up  in  the  South.  They  held  with 
Madison  that  "the  original  sin  against  neutrals"  lay  with  Great 
Britain.  The  "  war  hawks,"  as  the  Federalists  nicknamed  them, 
called  on  the  country  to  rise  in  arms  against  the  king  our  fathers 
fought.  We  had  gained  our  independence  on  land  ;  they  declared 
that  the  time  had  now  come  to  gain  it  on  the  sea. 

The  President  was  reluctant  to  draw  the  sword,  but  at  length 
yielded  to  pressure.  In  the  spring  of  1812  he  sent  to  Congress 
a  number  of  letters  which  he  had  bought  for  $50,000  from  John 
Hei^jy.  Henry  was  an  Irish  adventurer  who  asserted  that  Gov 
ernor  Craig  of  Canada  sent  him  (1809)  as  an  emissary  to  New 


1812]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        291 

England  at  the  time  of  Jefferson's  embargo  (§  290).  His  mis 
sion  then  was  to  find  out  whether  the  Federalists  favored  secession 
from  the  Union. 

His  letters  were  copies,  and  not  "  honest  copies,"  of  the 
original  correspondence  with  Governor  Craig.  They  contained 
nothing  which  "compromised  any  one  except  Henry  himself." 
But  they  moved  the  President  to  recommend  laying  an  embargo, 
and  they  served  to  excite  the  war  party  in  Congress  to  still 
greater  exasperation  against  the  policy  of  England. 

299.  Madison's  "war  message";  war  declared  (1812).  Less 
than  three  months  later,  the  President  sent  his  "  war  message  "  l 
to  Congress.  He  now  virtually  recommended  an  appeal  to  arms. 
The  three  chief  grievances  cited  were  :  (i)  the  impressment  of 
American  citizens  into  the  English  navy  (§§  264,  289);  (2)  the 
British  "Orders  in  Council"  (§  289)  and  the  establishment  of 
"pretended  blockades"  by  which  "our  commerce"  had  been 
"plundered  in  every  sea";  (3)  the  belief  that  "British  traders 
and  garrisons "  on  the  Canadian  frontier  had  encouraged  the 
recent  Indian  outbreak  (§  297)  in  the  West. 

When  the  question  came  up  for  debate  in  the  House,  the  east 
ern  and  middle  states,  with  the  exception  of  New  Hampshire, 
Vermont,  and  Pennsylvania,  voted  against  the  war  on  the  ground 
that  we  were  unprepared  for  it,  and  that  it  would  be  disastrous 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  All  the  southern  and  west 
ern  states,  which  were  mainly  agricultural  and  had  comparatively 
small  commercial  interests  at  stake,  voted  for  it. 

Thirty-four  members  of  the  opposition  joined  in  an  address 
to  their  constituents  in  which  they  stated  in  substance  that  the 
United  States  was  composed  of  eighteen  independent  sovereign 
ties  united  by  bonds  of  moral  obligation  only,  and  that  if  we 
entered  upon  the  contest  with  England,  we  did  so  "  as. a  divided 
people."  Meanwhile  Congress  had  imposed  an  embargo  of  ninety 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  29;  Johnston's  American  Orations, 
I,  205.  On  the  War  of  1812,  see  Adams'  United  States,  VI-V1II ;  Roosevelt's  Naval 
War  of  1812,  and  Gordy's  Political  History  of  the  United  States,  II,  ch.  xiii-xvi, 


292  THE   STUDENT'S    AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1812 

days  (§§  265,  290)  and  on  June  18,  1812,  it  declared  the  "  second 
war  of  independence  "  against  Great  Britain.1  Before  the  declara 
tion  reached  London,  English  trade  interests  had  forced  Parlia 
ment  to  revoke  the  "Orders  in  Council"  (§289).  The  war, 
therefore,  was  to  be  fought  on  the  ground  of  impressment  of  Amer 
ican  citizens.  England  herself  admitted  that  this  constituted  a 
real  grievance,  but  she  refused  to  discontinue  it. 

300.  The  American  army  and  navy;  Clay  and  the  invasion 
of  Canada ;  the  war  loan.  Our  regular  army  numbered  less  than 
seven  thousand  men.  The  officers  of  this  small  force  were  mainly 
"  decaying  veterans  "  who  had  been  appointed  not  for  their  mili 
tary  ability  but  for  political  reasons.  Among  the  younger  men 
Harrison  had  his  Tippecanoe  fame  (§  297),  and  Winfield  Scott 
and  Andrew  Jackson  were  only  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  brilliant  record.  The  country  had  to  depend  for  soldiers 
mainly  on  the  state  militia  and  on  volunteers.  The  governors  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  refused  to  furnish  their  quota  of 
militia  to  serve  outside  their  respective  states,  but  New  England 
contributed  a  very  large  number  of  volunteers. 

The  entire  efficient  navy  of  the  United  States  consisted  of  six 
frigates  and  about  a  dozen  smaller  vessels ;  but  some  of  these 
were  the  "best  of  their  class  in  the  world."  England,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  nearly  a  thousand  war  ships.  The  chief  officers 
of  our  little  navy  were  all  young  men,  and  Hull,  Decatur,  Rodgers, 
Bainbridge,  and  Porter  had  shown  in  the  wars  with  the  Barbary 
pirates  (§§  249,  285)  that  they  knew  how  to  give  and  take  hard 
knocks.  But  Clay,  and  the  war  party  generally,  placed  their  main 
reliance  not  on  battles  at  sea,  but  on  an  invasion  of  Canada. 
They  believed  that  a  majority  of  the  Canadians  would  flock  to 
our  standard,  and  that  we  should  speedily  dictate  "  peace  at 
Quebec  dt  Halifax." 

The  war  would  demand  a  liberal  supply  of  money,  and  Con 
gress  at  once  doubled  the  customs  duties ;  but  when  the  govern 
ment  called  for  loans  it  could  not  obtain  anything  like  what  it 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  30. 


1812]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        293 

required  ; l  and  many  subscriptions  were  in  state  bank  notes  worth 
only  sixty-five  cents  on  the  dollar.  Later,  the  United  States 
Treasury  confessed  itself  unable  to  meet  the  interest  due  on  the 
national  debt.  John  Jacob  Astor  and  Stephen  Girard  lent  the 
government  sufficient  money  to  pay  the  wages  of  its  soldiers  and 
sailors ;  but  they  charged  exorbitant  rates  for  the  loan. 

301.  Hull's  campaign  and  surrender.  The  campaign  was  opened 
in  the  summer  of  1812  by  General  William  Hull.  He  was  a  Revo 
lutionary  veteran  whom  Washington  had  commended  as  "  an  offi 
cer  of  great  merit."  Hull  advanced  with  a  force  of  about  two 
thousand  men,  and,  crossing  the  Detroit  River  into  Canada,  issued 
a  proclamation  declaring  that  he  had  come  to  restore  the  people 
of  that  province  "  to  the  dignified  station  of  freemen."  The  proc 
lamation  had  no  effect  on  the  Canadians. 

After  some  skirmishes  with  the  Indians,  Hull  fell  back  to  Detroit. 
His  effective  force  was  soon  reduced  to  about  a  thousand  men, 
and  he  received  no  proper  support  from  the  government.  Gen 
eral  Brock,  aided  by  Tecumseh  (§  296)  with  a  body  of  Indians, 
marched  on  Detroit  and  demanded  its  surrender.  Brock  had  a 
somewhat  larger  force  than  Hull ;  but  the  American  general  was 
behind  his  works  and  his  men  stood  ready  to  defend  them.  Hull, 
without  firing  a  single  gun  or  consulting  his  officers,  gave  up  the 
fort.  His  object,  he  said,  was  to  save  the  women  and  children 
of  Detroit  from  the  scalping  knives  of  the  savages.  Hull  had  not 
only  failed  in  his  expedition  against  Canada,  but  he  had  lost  the 
whole  territory  of  Michigan,  and  Fort  Dearborn  (Chicago)  besides. 
He  was  tried  by  court-martial,  found  guilty  of  cowardice  and  neg 
lect  of  duty,  and  sentenced  to  be  shot ;  but  the  President  pardoned 
him  on  account  of  his  age  and  his  honorable  Revolutionary  record. 

Troops  were  sent  to  retake  Detroit,  but  they  were  surrounded 
by  the  British  and  the  Indians,  on  the  river  Raisin,  in  southern 
Michigan,  and  a  great  many  of  the  prisoners  were  massacred  by 
the  savages. 

l  The  government  lost  very  heavily,  since  for  loans  of  over  $80,000,000  it 
received  but  $34,000,000,  as  measured  in  specie. 


294          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1812 

In  the  autumn  (1812)  a  second  attempt  was  made  to  invade 
Canada;  but  the  expedition,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  raw  militia, 
was  badly  managed  and  was  defeated  and  driven  back. 

302.  The  "  Constitution  "  and  the  "Guerriere";  other  Amer 
ican  naval  victories.  A  few  days  after  Hull  surrendered  at  Detroit 
(§  301)  his  nephew,  Captain  Isaac  Hull,  commander  of  the  frigate 
Constitution,  forty-four  guns,  fought  (August  19,  1812)  the  British 
frigate  Guerriere  y  thirty- eight  guns,  off  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia. 
Admiral  Farragut  said,  "  Captain  Hull  was  as  able  a  seaman  as 
ever  sailed  a  ship."  In  less  than  thirty  minutes  after  the  engage 
ment  began  the  Guerriere  struck  her  colors.  She  was  so  terribly 
cut  to  pieces  that  Hull  could  not  tow  his  prize  into  port,  so 
he  set  her  on  fire  and  blew  her  up.  The  Constitution,  hence 
forth  popularly  known  as  Old  Ironsides,  came  off  without  serious 
damage.  Before  the  close  of  1812  we  had  gained  three  more 
memorable  victories  at  sea :  the  Wasp  had  captured  the  Frolic  ; 
the  United  States  had  taken  the  Macedonian;  and  the  Constitu 
tion,  t\\e  Java. 

Speaking  of  the  surrender  of  the  Guerriere,  the  London  Times, 
forgetful  of  Paul  Jones'  exploit  (§  224),  said,  "  Never  before  in 
the  history  of  the  world  did  an  English  frigate  strike  to  an  Amer 
ican."  Before  the  contest  ended  the  same  journal  had  to  con 
fess,  "  Scarcely  is  there  an  American  ship  of  war  which  has  not 
to  boast  a  victory  over  the  British  flag."  In  fact,  out  of  eighteen 
naval  engagements  between  single  vessels  we  gained,  no  less  than 
fifteen.  In  most  cases  our  ships  were  larger  than  those  we 
fought ;  furthermore,  they  generally  had  more  men  and  often 
threw  heavier  broadsides ;  but,  after  all,  the  real  secret  of  our 
remarkable  victories  lay  in  the  fact  that  we  handled  our  ships  and 
guns  far  better  than  our  opponents  did  theirs.  Success  in  the 
past  had  made  the  English  careless  ;  they  aimed  their  shot  badly, 
while  our  sailors  not  only  hit  the  mark  but  hit  to  kill.  In  these 
battles  the  enemy  lost  on  the  average  about  five  men  to  our  one. 

The  English  declared  that  the  crews  of  the  American  vessels 
were  made  up  largely  of  deserters  from  the  royal  navy,  and  that 


1812-1813]     THE    UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    295 

their  ships  had  been  beaten  by  their  own  countrymen  fighting 
under  the  "  stars  and  stripes."  The  log  books,  however,  show 
that  nearly  all  of  our  officers  were  born  in  America,  and  that  not 
more  than  one  man  in  twenty  of  our  crews  was  a  native  of  Great 
Britain.  In  the  end  English  naval  writers  admitted  that  the 
American  people,  "  rod  in  hand,"  had  taught  them  their  "first 
lesson"  in  the  art  of  gunnery. 

This  series  of  splendid  victories  moved  Daniel  Webster  to  urge 
Congress,  in  his  first  speech  in  that  body  (January  14,  1813),  to 
increase  our  navy.  "  If  the  war  must  continue,"  said  he,  "  go  to 
the  ocean  .  .  .  ;  there  the  united  wishes  and  exertions  of  the 
nation  will  go  with  you." 

303.  The  "Essex"  in  the  Pacific;  American  privateers;  the 
British  blockade ;  the  presidential  election  ;  the  "  Chesapeake"  and 
the  "Shannon."  While  we  were  gaining  this  series  of  successes 
on  the  Atlantic,  Captain  Porter  of  the  Essex  was  destroying 
British  whalers  by  wholesale  in  the  Pacific.  American  privateers 
beset  the  coast  of  England  to  such  an  extent  that  English  mer 
chantmen  did  not  dare  leave  port  except  under  the  protection  of 
a  man-of-war.  Within  two  years  we  had  captured  more  than 
eight  hundred  vessels,  and  before  the  close  of  the  war  the  total 
number  of  our  prizes  reached  twenty-five  hundred. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  British  not  only  captured  hundreds  of 
our  merchantmen,  but  they  kept  up  a  strict  blockade  along  the 
coast  of  the  United  States.  If  one  of  our  war  ships  left  port,  it 
ran  the  risk  of  being  taken  by  a  superior  force,  and  "  the  Amer 
ican  flag  ceased  for  a  time  to  wave  from  any  national  vessel  on 
the  ocean." 

Meanwhile  the  presidential  election  had  occurred  (1812),  and 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  peace  party,  Madison  received 
128  electoral  votes  to  89  cast  for  De  Witt  Clinton,  his  opponent. 
Elbridge  Gerry  was  elected  Vice  President. 

The  first  decided  American  defeat  at  sea  occurred  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1813.  Captain  Broke  of  the  Shannon,  cruising  off  Boston, 
challenged  Captain  Lawrence  of  the  Chesapeake  to  fight  him. 


296          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1813 

Lawrence's  crew  was  larger  than  Broke's,  but  it  consisted  mainly 
of  raw  men,  and  some  of  these  were  mutinous.  Broke  declared 
that  he  had  long  been  drilling  his  crew  into  a  state  of  "  perfect 
discipline  "  with  reference  to  such  a  contest.  In  the  course  of 
the  action  a  large  number  of  the  officers  of  the  Chesapeake  were 
struck  down,  and  Lawrence  himself  fell  mortally  wounded.  His 
dying  order  was,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship  !  "  The  command 
came  too  late,  for  the  enemy,  leaping  on  board  the  Chesapeake, 
captured  the  vessel  (June  i,  1813)  and  ran  up  the  English  colors 
in  triumph.  This  engagement  was  the  last  important  battle  of 
the  war  between  single  ships. 

304.  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie.  While  these  events  were 
taking  place  on  the  Atlantic,  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  a  young  man 
of  twenty-seven,  was  busy  preparing  for  the  defense  of  Lake 
Erie,  then  held  by  the  enemy's  ships.  Perry  captured  a  British 
brig,  bought  three  small  American  schooners,  and  then,  by  almost 
incredible  labor,  completed  the  construction  of  five  more  vessels 
from  green  timber  which  he  cut  on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake. 

With  this  fleet  of  nine  vessels,  of  which  two,  as  Perry  said, 
"  were  growing  in  the  woods  last  spring,"  the  young  commander 
attacked  the  British  squadron.  Perry  had  certain  advantages  in 
the  engagement.  He  had  three  more  ships  than  the  enemy ;  he 
probably  had  more  men  fit  for  duty ;  and  his  guns,  though  fewer 
in  number  than  those  of  the  English,  could  throw  far  heavier 
broadsides.  The  battle  (September  10,  1813)  was  fought  with 
indomitable  courage  on  both  sides. 

In  memory  of  the  lamented  commander  of  the  Chesapeake  Perry 
had  named  his  vessel  the  Lawrence  and  had  hoisted  a  flag  bearing 
Lawrence's  last  words — "Don't  give  up  the  ship!"  (§303). 
The  British  made  this  vessel  the  target  of  their  fire ;  Perry  fought 
until  nearly  every  one  of  his  men  had  fallen.  He  saw  that  it  would 
be  madness  to  remain  longer  in  his  shattered  ship.  The  enemy 
had  literally  "  hammered  him  out  of  it."  Leaping  into  a  rowboat 
with  his  brother,  a  boy  of  twelve,  he  pulled  with  splintered  oars 
amid  a  storm  of  flying  shot  for  the  Niagara.  Having  reached 


u/' 


ka< 


WAR  OF  1812 


1813-1814]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    297 

her,  he  again  hoisted  the  famous  flag  he  had  brought  with  him  from 
the  Lawrence  and  bore  down  on  the  enemy's  fleet.  The  fight 
was  renewed  more  furiously  than  ever,  with  the  result  that  at 
length  the  British  commander  was  forced  to  strike  his  colors. 
Perry  then  taking  a  pencil  wrote  on  the  back  of  an  old  letter  this 
laconic  dispatch  to  General  Harrison,  commander  of  the  Army  of 
the  West :  "  We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours." 

It  was  the  first  entire  squadron  that  Great  Britain  had  ever  sur 
rendered,  and  she  had  surrendered  this  to  Americans.  The  vic 
tory  gave  us  the  absolute  control  of  Lake  Erie.  Perry  transported 
Harrison's  army,  thirty-five  hundred  strong,  across  to  Canada. 
The  British,  who  had  only  about  seven  hundred  men,  were  com 
pelled  to  abandon  Detroit  and  retreat  up  the  Thames.  Tecumseh 
(§  297)  with  about  a  thousand  Indians  joined  them  on  that  river. 
Harrison  completely  routed  the  enemy  and  Tecumseh  was  killed. 
We  recovered  Detroit  (§  301),  and  the  British  never  again  got  a 
foothold  on  the  territory  of  Michigan.  In  consequence  of  the 
death  of  Tecumseh  most  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  the  Northwest 
now  made  haste  to  declare  their  submission  to  the  United  States. 

305.  Macdonough's  victory  (1814).  The  British,  having  cap 
tured  Oswego,  had  dispatched  a  force  of  about  twelve  thousand 
men  from  Canada  down  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Champlain. 
This  movement  was  supported  by  a  British  fleet  on  the  lake.  To 
oppose  this  advance  we  had  a  small  force  at  Plattsburg,  and  a 
few  war  vessels  stationed  on  the  lake.  The  American  squadron 
was  commanded  by  Captain  Macdonough,  a  young  man  about 
Perry's  age  (§  304).  In  this  instance  the  British  had  more  ships, 
more  men,  and  more  guns.  The  weight  of  metal  which  each  side 
could  throw  was  equal  almost  to  a  pound,  but  the  enemy  was  far 
superior  in  the  important  matter  of  long-range  guns. 

Macdonough  got  his  ships  into  an  advantageous  position  for 
the  fight,  and  then  handled  them  so  admirably  that  in  less  than 
three  hours  (September  n,  1814)  he  had  won  the  day.  The 
British  army  retreated  to  Canada  and  made  no  further  attempts 
to  penetrate  the  state  of  New  York. 


298        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

306.  The  campaign  in  Canada ;  the  "  Bladensburg  races  ";  cap 
ture  of  Washington;  the  "  Star- Spangled  Banner."  Meanwhile 
there  had  been  a  movement  on  Montreal,  and  fighting  had 
occurred  (November  n,  1813)  at  Chrysler's  Farm;  there  had 
also  been  sharp  engagements  at  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane 
(July  5  and  25,  1814).  In  the  first  instance  we  came  off  second 
best ;  in  the  last  two  battles  General  Brown  and  Winfield  Scott 
drove  the  enemy  off  the  field ;  but  our  forces  were  too  small  to 
maintain  a  foothold  on  Canadian  soil. 

Late  in  the  summer  of  1814  Admiral  Cockburn  and  General 
Ross  landed  about  five  thousand  men,  mostly  sailors  and 
marines,  on  the  banks  of  the  Patuxent  and  marched  on  Wash 
ington.  General  Winder  with  a  force  of  six  thousand  men  met 
the  enemy  at  Bladensburg  within  sight  of  the  national  capital. 
Five  hundred  of  Winder's  army  were  sailors ;  most  of  the  rest 
were  raw  militia.  The  sailors  made  a  brave  stand,  but  the  militia 
ran,  and  Madison,  who  was  with  the  troops,  was  swept  along  with 
them,  in  what  the  newspapers  called  the  "  Bladensburg  races." 

Later,  the  President  fled  to  the  Virginia  woods  for  safety. 
The  enemy  entered  Washington  in  triumph  (August  24,  1814); 
their  first  act  was  to  burn  the  capitol.  They  next  entered  the 
executive  mansion,  and,  according  to  their  own  account,  drank 
the  king's  health  in  the  President's  wine,  and  then  set  fire  to  the 
house.  They  then  proceeded  to  destroy  the  Treasury,  and  most 
of  the  other  government  buildings.  The  English  declared  that 
they  perpetrated  this  act  of  vandalism  in  retaliation  for  our  hav 
ing  burned  the  Parliament  House  at  York  (now  Toronto). 

The  British  fleet  next  (September  12,  1814)  moved  on  Fort 
McHenry,  the  chief  defense  of  Baltimore.  The  fort  held  out 
valiantly  against  the  furious  bombardment;  if  it  fell,  the  chief 
city  of  Maryland  must  fall  with  it.  Among  those  who  anxiously 
watched  the  attack  was  Francis  S.  Key,  a  young  Baltimorean, 
detained  as  a  temporary  prisoner  by  the  British.  When  the  sun 
rose  on  the  second  morning  he  saw  with  delight  that  the  fort  held 
out  and  that  "  our  flag  was  still  there."  The  enemy  had  ceased 


«*- 


O  .' 


1813-1814]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    299 

firing  and  were  preparing  to  withdraw.  Taking  an  old  letter  from 
his  pocket,  Key  hastily  wrote  on  the  back  of  it  the  first  draught  of 
the  national  song  of  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner "  ;  the  whole 
country  was  soon  ringing  with  its  patriotic  strains. 

307.  Fort  Mims  ;  Jackson  at  Tohopeka  and  Pensacola.    While 
the  war  was  going  on  at  the  East,  important  events  were  happen 
ing  in  the  Southwest.     The  powerful  Indian  tribe  of  the  Creeks 
in  the  Alabama  country  had  risen  against  the  settlers  in  that  sec 
tion.     In  the  summer  of   1813  they  attacked  Fort   Mims,  near 
Mobile,  and  massacred  more  than  five  hundred  men,  women,  and 
children  who  had   gathered   there  for   safety.     General  Andrew 
Jackson  of  Tennessee,  rising  from  a  sick  bed,  marched  against 
the  Indians  and  completely  routed   them  (March  14,  1814)  at 
Tohopeka  or  Horseshoe  Bend,  on  a  branch  of  the  Alabama  River. 

The  Spanish  authorities  had  perfidiously  permitted  the  English 
forces  to  land  at  Pensacola,  Florida,  and  make  it  a  base  of  opera 
tions  for  attacking  Louisiana.  Jackson  repulsed  a  movement  of 
the  enemy  against  Mobile  ;  then,  without  waiting  for  orders  from 
Washington,  he  pushed  forward  to  Pensacola,  took  the  place  by 
storm  (November  7,  1814),  and  drove  out  the  British.  This 
success  left  "  Old  Hickory,"  as  his  men  called  him,  free  to  go  to 
the  defense  of  New  Orleans,  which  was  the  real  point  at  which  the 
enemy  was  aiming. 

308.  New  England's  opposition  to  the  war.    While  Jackson  was 
throwing  up  intrenchments  at  New  Orleans  a  movement  was  in 
progress  in  New  England  which  many  believed  threatened  a  dis 
solution  of  the  Union.     The  New  England   states  had  suffered 
very  heavily  by   the  war,   and  the   commercial  distress  of  that 
section  could  hardly  be  overestimated. 

A  strong  party  (§  299)  there,  who  were  nicknamed  "  Blue  Light 
Federalists,"  l  opposed  the  further  prosecution  of  the  contest. 


1  It  was  said  that  certain  Federalists  in  Connecticut  had  given  information  to 
the  British  fleet  by  burning  blue  lights  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  New  London. 
All  New  England  Federalists  who  opposed  the  war  were  now  called  "  Blue  Light 
Federalists." 


300        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1813-1814 

They  denied  that  we  had  made  any  real  progress.  Our  inva 
sion  of  Canada  (§§  301,  306),  said  they,  has  ended  in  failure; 
our  national  capital  has  been  captured  and  burned,  and  our  coast 
is  strictly  blockaded ;  the  enemy  has  secured  possession  of  the 
seaboard  of  the  district  of  Maine,  and  threatens  to  advance 
farther  south. 

They  admitted  that  we  had  gained  remarkable  victories  on  the 
ocean ;  but  they  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  fall  of 
Napoleon  now  left  England  free  to  employ  an  overwhelming 
naval  force  against  us,  and  that  a  powerful  British  fleet  carrying  a 
thousand  guns  was  at  that  very  time  moving  on  New  Orleans. 

Again,  the  opposition  declared  that  the  war  had  already  cost 
thirty  thousand  lives  and  more  than  $100,000,000;  that  the 
national  treasury  was  empty ;  and  that  the  financial  condition  of 
the  country  seemed  to  forebode  a  general  crash.  Many  banks 
had  suspended  payment,  and  it  was  feared  that  sooner  or  later 
all  must  close  their  doors. 

Now  that  the  first  enthusiasm  had  spent  itself,  it  had  become 
difficult  to  secure  recruits.  Outside  of  New  York,  Tennessee, 
Kentucky,  and  perhaps  Ohio,  very  few  states  gave  to  the  war  the 
earnest  support  which  it  demanded.  Volunteering  had  prac 
tically  ceased,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  proposed  a  draft,  and 
suggested  that  minors  over  eighteen  should  be  enlisted  "  without 
the  consent  of  their  parents."  The  legislatures  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  thereupon  passed  an  act  imposing  a  fine  and 
imprisonment  on  all  United  States  officers  who  should  induce 
minors  to  enlist.  In  the  navy  the  lack  of  men  was  so  serious 
that  the  Secretary  of  that  department  urged  the  government  to 
adopt  the  British  expedient  of  impressment  of  seamen. 

309.  Call  for  the  Hartford  Convention ;  the  "  Richmond  En 
quirer  "  on  secession.  The  Senate  of  Massachusetts  had  already 
(June  15,  1813)  resolved  that  the  war  was  " waged  without  jus 
tifiable  cause,"  and  had  solemnly  remonstrated  against  its  con 
tinuance.  The  following  year  the  Legislature  issued  a  call  for  a 
convention  at  Hartford,  and  invited  the  other  New  England  states 


1813-1814]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    301 

to  send  delegates  "  to  confer  upon  the  subject  of  their  public 
grievances." 

But  in  issuing  this  call  the  legislature  explicitly  limited  the 
action  of  the  proposed  convention  to  matters  "  not  repugnant  to 
their  obligation  as  members  of  the  Union."  The  legislatures  of 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island — the  only  remaining  states  which 
chose  delegates  —  imposed  a  similar  restriction.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  above  proviso,  the  report  got  abroad  that  the  real  object 
of  the  convention  was  nothing  less  than  secession.  The  President 
was  greatly  alarmed  and  "  looked  heartbroken." 

The  Richmond  Enquirer  condemned  the  meeting  in  advance. 
It  declared  that  "  No  state,  or  set  of  states,  has  a  right  to  with 
draw  itself  from  the  Union  of  its  own  account."  It  added  :  "  The 
majority  of  the  states  which  formed  the  Union  must  consent  to 
the  withdrawal  of  any  branch  of  it.  Until  that  consent  has  been 
obtained,  any  attempt  to  dissolve  the  Union  ...  is  treason" 

310.  The  Hartford  Convention  and  its  work.  The  Federalists 
hailed  the  proposed  convention  as  the  "  Star  in  the  East."  It 
met  at  Hartford  (December  15,  1814),  and  by  unanimous  vote 
chose  George  Cabot  of  Boston  chairman.  It  continued  in  secret 
session  for  three  weeks.  The  report l  of  the  convention  recom 
mended  seven  amendments  to  the  Constitution.  One  of  these 
proposed  amendments,  which  was  styled  "  indispensable,"  de 
manded  that  the  power  of  Congress  to  admit  new  states,  as 
in  the  recent  case  of  Louisiana  (§  282),  should  be  restricted; 
the  next  most  important  of  the  proposed  amendments  demanded 
the  limitation  of  the  authority  of  the  government  to  declare 
"  offensive  war." 

The  convention  furthermore  recommended  the  legislatures  of 
the  three  states  represented  to  protect  their  citizens  against 
forcible  drafts  or  impressments  (§  308)  not  authorized  by  the 
Constitution.  It  also  advised  these  states  to  ask  permission  of 
the  national  government  to  use  a  part  of  the  federal  taxes  for 

l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  32 ;  Adams'  United  States,  VIII, 
ch.  xi. 


302        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1814-isis 

defending  their  territory  against  British  attack.  In  case  the 
government  refused  to  grant  such  permission  or  neglected  to  take 
measures  for  the  protection  of  New  England,  and  insisted  on 
prosecuting  the  war,  the  convention  recommended  that  another 
convention  should  be  called  to  act  as  "  a  crisis  so  momentous 
may  require." 

Several  delegates  had  been  strongly  urged  to  advocate  seces 
sion,  but  declined  to  do  so.  They  declared,  however,  that  "  if 
the  Union  be  destined  to  dissolution  by  reason  of  the  multiplied 
abuses  of  bad  administration,  it  should,  if  possible,  be  the  work 
of  peaceable  times  and  deliberate  consent." 

The  "sphinx-like  mystery"  of  the  Hartford  Convention  gave 
the  finishing  stroke  to  the  Federalist  party  (§  275).  Its  enemies 
accused  its  delegates  of  having  committed  "moral  treason."  The 
fact  that  it  generally  represented  only  the  more  extreme  Feder 
alists  had  no  weight  with  those  who  violently  denounced  all  who 
belonged  to  that  party. 

311.  The  battle  of  New  Orleans  (1815).  Three  days  after  the 
Hartford  Convention  closed  its  session,  General  Jackson  won  the 
ever-memorable  battle  of  New  Orleans.  The  British  army  of  ten 
thousand  men  was  largely  composed  of  veterans  who  had  fought 
under  Wellington.  They  were  commanded  by  Sir  Edward  Paken- 
ham,  brother-in-law  of  the  "  Iron  Duke  "  and  one  of  his  bravest 
officers.  Their  object  was  to  take  New  Orleans  and  thereby  get 
control  of  Louisiana  and  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Jackson 
had  only  about  half  as  many  men  as  Pakenham,  and  less  than 
one  fifth  of  these  were  "  regulars."  The  remainder  was  made 
up  of  Louisiana  militia,  Lafitte's  pirates,  free  negroes,  and  volun 
teers  from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  The  latter  were  all  "  dead 
shots  "  with  the  rifle. 

Jackson's  main  line  of  defense  consisted  of  a  canal  or  broad 
ditch,  backed  by  a  rampart  of  muddy  earth  which  extended  east 
ward  from  the  Mississippi  to  an  impassable  cypress  swamp.  On 
this  rampart  he  had  mounted  thirteen  cannon.  Fighting  began 
on  the  last  of  December  (1814),  but  the  great  attack  and  final 


1815]         THE    UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        303 

assault  by  the  British  came  at  daylight  on  Sunday  morning, 
January  8,  1815.  The  artillerymen  and  the  sharpshooters  mowed 
down  the  enemy  as  they  advanced  against  our  works,  while  Jack 
son  ran  along  the  line  crying  to  his  men  :  "  Give  it  to  them,  my 
boys  !  Let 's  finish  the  business  to-day  !  " 

They  did  "finish"  it.  The  assaulting  party  was  driven  back 
with  terrible  loss.  They  died  as  brave  men  die,  falling  with  their 
faces  toward  our  guns.  The  British  rallied  again  and  again,  but 
it  was  useless ;  they  could  not  scale  our  intrenchments,  and  at 
length,  after  three  hours  of  desperate  fighting,  they  turned  and 
fled  in  confusion.  In  that  short  time  the  enemy  had  lost  more 
than  twenty-five  hundred  men,  including  Pakenham,  their  leader ; 
half  of  the  dead  were  shot  between  the  eyes.  Jackson  reported 
our  loss  at  "only  seven  killed  and  six  wounded."  It  is  probable 
that  this  decisive  victory  would  in  itself  have  put  an  end  to  the 
war,  and  the  moral  effect  of  it  would  certainly  have  saved  the 
Union  had  it  stood  in  any  real  danger  of  disruption. 

312 .  The  Treaty  of  Ghent.  After  the  first  overthrow  of  Napoleon, 
England  fell  back  exhausted  by  the  tremendous  struggle  in  which 
she  had  been  engaged  on  the  continent.  Her  people,  crushed 
by  debt  and  taxes,  were  eager  to  make  peace  with  the  United 
States,  and  thereby  reopen  their  American  trade.  Our  commis 
sioners,  Gallatin,  Bayard,  and  J.  Q.  Adams,  met  the  English 
commissioners  at  Ghent  in  the  summer  of  1813  ;  the  negotiations 
dragged  on  for  a  year  and  a  half.  A  short  time  before  Jackson 
fought  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  the  treaty *  was  signed  at  Ghent 
(December  24,  1814);  but  in  those  days  of  slow-sailing  ships 
the  news  did  not  reach  us  in  season  to  prevent  the  last  great 
conflict  of  the  war. 

We  had  entered  upon  the  contest  of  1812  with  the  cry  of 
"  Free  Trade  and  Sailors'  Rights  ! "  Our  chief  object  was  to 
compel  England  to  renounce  the  impressment  of  American  sea 
men  (§264).  The  Treaty  of  Ghent,  however,  did  not  mention 
impressment  at  all  nor  did  it  protect  the  rights  of  neutrals. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  31. 


304          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1815 

Hence  it  wholly  failed  to  secure  either  of  the  objects  for  which 
we  took  up  arms. 

But  the  progress  of  events  gained  both  these  points  without  a 
treaty.  When  England  exiled  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena  all  ques 
tions  about  neutral  ships,  free  goods,  and  impressment  were 
dropped  and,  so  far  as  the  United  States  was  concerned,  were 
never  again  revived  in  a  threatening  form.  Many  years  later 
(1856),  England,  with  the  other  chief  commercial  nations  of 
Europe,  adopted  the  Declaration  of  Paris,  which  abolished  priva 
teering,  and  made  the  neutral  flag  cover  all  goods  not  contraband 
of  war.  The  United  States  declined  to  accede  to  the  Declara 
tion,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  involve  a  large  increase  of  the 
American  navy.  This  decision  on  our  part  proved  disastrous  to 
us  during  the  Civil  War. 

With  regard  to  territory  the  treaty  stipulated  that  England 
should  restore  the  seizures  she  had  made,  —  these  were  parts  of 
Maine  and  the  trading  post  at  Astoria,  Oregon ;  provision  was  also 
made  for  the  settlement  of  the  dispute  respecting  the  boundary 
line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada.  The  next  year  Great 
Britain  agreed  to  open  her  West  India  possessions,  in  large  measure, 
to  American  commerce. 

However  unsatisfactory  the  treaty  was  on  the  leading  points  in 
discussion,  the  fact  that  it  brought  peace  caused  it  to  be  hailed 
with  delight.  Jefferson  declared  that  if  the  war  had  lasted  a 
twelvemonth  longer  it  would  have  upset  our  government.  How 
ever  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  both  Federalists  and  Repub 
licans  were  wild  with  joy.  Party  hatred  was  forgotten,  and  old 
political  enemies  rushed  into  each  other's  arms  and  "  kissed  each 
other  like  women." 

313.  Political  results  of  the  War  of  1812.  The  War  of  1812, 
though  disappointing  in  some  of  its  results  (§  312),  was,  never 
theless,  our  "  second  war  of  independence."  The  splendid  vic 
tories  which  we  gained  on  the  sea  and  on  the  lakes  won  for  us  the 
respect  of  foreign  nations,  and  henceforth  Great  Britain  and  all 
other  European  powers  silently  conceded  our  rights  on  the  ocean. 


1815-1816]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT     305 

Next,  the  war  emancipated  us  from  the  belief  that  we  stood  in 
need  of  European  alliances.  Nothing  more  was  heard  of  a  French 
or  of  an  English  party  (§  261) ;  America  felt  able  to  go  forward 
in  her  own  chosen  path  without  leaning  on  any  foreign  power  or 
asking  for  any  foreign  approval.  Finally,  the  war  roused  the  con 
sciousness  of  nationality  and  strengthened  the  bond  of  Union 
which  it  had  at  one  time  threatened  to  break  (§§308-310). 
We  heard  no  more  expressions  of  New  England  discontent,  and 
no  more  hints  of  possible  secession  in  that  quarter.  Jackson's 
notable  victory  at  New  Orleans  came  to  complement  and  round 
out  the  naval  successes  of  Hull,  Decatur,  Porter,  Perry,  and  Mac- 
donough.  It  sent  a  thrill  of  pride  through  the  whole  nation, 
made  North  and  South  feel  that  they  were  one  people,  and 
opened  the  way  by  which  the  western  general  advanced  to  the 
presidency. 

314.  Economic  results  of  the  war ;  second  United  States  Bank ; 
tariff ;  emigration  ;  u  internal  improvements  " ;  new  states  ;  presi 
dential  election.  The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
(§255)  expired  (1811)  just  before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities 
with  England.  An  attempt  to  renew  it  failed  by  a  single  vote. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  the  suspension  of  specie  payment  by  state 
banks  encouraged  the  friends  of  a  national  bank  to  propose  the 
reestablishment  of  such  an  institution.  They  wanted  some  kind 
of  paper  money  which  would  be  taken  at  the  same  value  on 
both  sides  of  a  turnpike  tollgate.  They  were  successful,  and 
the  second  Bank  of  the  United  States,  one  of  the  first  results  of 
the  war,  was  chartered  (1816)  for  twenty  years.1  Its  capital  was 
fixed  at  $35,000,000,  of  which  one  fifth  was  to  be  subscribed  by 
the  federal  government.  Like  its  predecessor,  it  had  its  head 
quarters  in  Philadelphia,  with  numerous  branches  throughout  the 
country. 

A  second  result  of  the  war,  considered  in  connection  with  the 
preceding  embargo  Jj^  20 2),  was  the  encouragement  it  gave  to 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  33  ;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the 
United  States;  145, 


3C>6        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

manufacturing,  especially  in  New  England  and  New  York.  In 
1814  Francis  C.  Lowell,  with  others,  introduced  the  power  loom 
from  England,  and  opened  at  Waltham,  Massachusetts,  the  first 
completely  equipped  cotton  mill  in  the  world.  It  was  followed 
by  the  establishment  of  the  colossal  factory  systems  of  Lowell, 
Fall  River,  and  Lawrence.  All  of  these  factories  were  operated 
by  water  power,  for  the  use  of  steam  for  manufacturing  purposes 
had  hardly  begun.  At  the  close  of  hostilities  fleets  of  English 
merchantmen  laden  with  English  goods  began  to  arrive  at  our 
ports.  The  cotton  mills  of  New  England,  claiming  to  repre 
sent  a  capital  of  $40,000,000,  demanded  tariff  legislation  which 
should  check  this  deluge  of  cotton  cloths  pouring  in  from  abroad. 
Woolens  were  likewise  in  danger  from  the  same  source.  They 
were  said  to  employ  a  capital  of  about  $12,000,000. 

A  third  result  of  the  war  was  that  Henry  Clay,  in  the  spirit  of 
Hamilton  (§258),  came  forward  as  the  champion  of  the  protection 
of  home  industry  against  foreign  competition.  He  briefly  urged 
the  adoption  of  a  tariff  which  should  lay  a  duty  on  the  class  of 
imported  goods  which  our  manufacturers  could  produce,  "  not  so 
much,"  he  said,  "  for  the  sake  of  the  manufacturers  themselves 
as  for  the  general  interest."  1  He,  however,  said  nothing  about 
establishing  protection  as  a  permanent  policy  of  the  government. 
His  arguments  were  warmly  supported  by  Calhoun  and  other 
southern  members  interested  in  cotton  raising  for  the  domestic 
market. 

Daniel  Webster  represented  New  England  commercial  interests. 
He  declared  himself  friendly  to  such  manufactures  as  we  then 
possessed,  but  he  strongly  opposed  any  action  on  the  part  of 
the  government  which  should  tend  to  stimulate  their  artificial 
increase.2  Eventually  a  tariff  with  strong  protective  features, 
especially  in  favor  of  cottons  and  woolens,  was  established  (1816)  ; 
it  imposed  duties  of  from  twenty  to  thirty-five  per  cent.8  This 

1  See  Henry  Clay's  Speeches,  I,  285. 

2  See  Lodge's  Life  of  Webster,  158. 

3  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  161. 


1816-1817]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT     307 

tariff  was  the  first  which  put  forward  protection  as  a  funda 
mental  principle  and  treated  the  question  of  revenue  as  a 
subordinate  one. 

Furthermore,  both  Clay  and  Calhoun  besought  Congress  to 
undertake  the  construction  of  roads  and  canals  in  the  South  and 
West,  with  the  view  of  strengthening  the  material  bonds  of  the 
Union. 

A  fourth  result  of  the  war  was  that  a  great  impulse  was  given 
to  emigration,  especially  toward  the  South  and  West,  which  did 
not  suffer  from  the  depression  felt  in  the  New  England  states. 
In  the  six  years  following  the  treaty  of  peace  (1816-1821)  the 
territorial  population  increased  so  rapidly  that  a  new  state  was 
admitted  each  year. 

A  fifth  important  economic  result  of  the  war  was  that  it  showed 
the  military  as  well  as  the  political  weakness  of  a  vast  domain 
destitute  of  lines  of  connecting  roads  and  canals.  This  fact  moved 
a  powerful  party  in  Congress  to  advocate  a  comprehensive  system 
of  "  internal  improvements  "  (§285)  which  would  facilitate  means 
of  communication  and  transportation  between  the  states.  Hence 
the  general  political  result  of  the  war  was  to  strengthen  the 
"broad-construction"  theory  of  the  Constitution  (§  256). 

During  Madison's  first  administration  the  state  of  Louisiana 
(§282)  entered  the  Union  (1812),  and  near  the  close  of  his 
second  administration  (1816)  Indiana  was  admitted,  making  the 
whole  number  of  states  nineteen. 

The  presidential  election  (1816)  was  a  complete  triumph  for 
the  Republicans.  James  Monroe,  who  was  Secretary  of  State 
under  Madison  and,  in  the  language  of  that  day,  "heir  apparent" 
to  the  presidency,  was  chosen  to  succeed  Madison,  with  Daniel 
D.  Tompkins  as  Vice  President.  Monroe's  opponent  was  Rufus 
King,  Federalist.  The  electoral  vote  stood  183  to  34. 

315.  Summary.  The  principal  event  of  Madison's  two  admin 
istrations  was  the  War  of  1812,  —  commonly  known  as  "the 
second  war  of  independence."  The  contest  made  our  power 
respected  on  the  ocean;  it  ended  by  strengthening  the  Union 


308          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1817 

and  rendering  it  self-reliant.  It  encouraged  the  "  broad-construc 
tion"  policy  which  called  the  second  Bank  of  the  United  States  into 
existence,  established  a  tariff  with  protective  features,  and  gave 
a  new  impulse  to  measures  favoring  the  building  of  roads,  canals, 
and  other  "internal  improvements"  by  the  national  government. 


JAMES  MONROE  (DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN),  Two  TERMS 
(1817-1825) 

316.  The  "Era  of  Good  Feeling."  Congress  had  made  large 
appropriations  for  strengthening  the  coast  defenses  of  the  United 
States.  The  President  (§  314)  thought  it  his  first  duty  to  visit 
and  personally  inspect  all  the  military  posts  on  the  frontier. 
Starting  from  Washington  he  took  the  steamboat  to  Baltimore, 
and  thence  passed  along  the  seaboard  of  the  middle  and  eastern 
states  as  far  as  Portland.  Then  turning  westward  he  journeyed 
to  Detroit,  and  after  a  tour  of  more  than  three  months  (1817) 
returned  through  Ohio  to  occupy  the  unfinished  "  White  House  " 
at  the  national  capital.  In  the  West  much  of  the  country  through 
which  he  traveled  was  still  covered  by  the  primeval  forest,  broken 
here  and  there  by  Indian  villages  or  scattered  white  settlements. 
Later  (1819),  Monroe  made  a  similar  journey  through  the  South. 

No  President  since  Washington  had  made  such  a  journey,  and 
Monroe  was  everywhere  welcomed  with  enthusiasm.  Dressed  in 
the  handsome  blue  and  buff  uniform  of  an  officer  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  the  President  recalled  the  stirring  days  of  '76,  when  Amer 
ican  patriots  fought  for  the  liberty  they  now  enjoyed.  The  bitter 
sectional  feelings  roused  by  the  late  war  had  subsided,  and  no 
sharp  political  issues  had  since  arisen.  Rivals  for  office  might 
indeed  look  upon  each  other  with  any  but  friendly  eyes,  but 
the  great  mass  of  Federalists  and  Republicans  seemed  to  forget 
their  old  prejudices  and  animosities.  They  declared  that  all 
things  now  made  for  peace,  and  that  the  "  Era  of  Good  Feeling  " 
had  begun. 


1817-1818]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    309 

317.  The  first  Seminole  War  (1817-1818).  Many  Indians  of  the 
Creek  nation  (§  307)  had  emigrated  to  Florida,  where  they  had 
united  with  native  tribes  of  that  section.  The  Creeks  called  these 
emigrants  Seminoles,  or  "  Wanderers."  After  General  Jackson 
had  subdued  the  Creeks  and  forced  them  to  give  up  a  large 
tract  of  their  country,  many  of  the  defeated  and  angry  savages 
crossed  the  border  and  joined  the  Seminoles.  Led  by  their  chief, 
"  Billy  Bowlegs,"  they  declared  implacable  hatred  to  the  United 
States.  They  made  a  treaty  with  Colonel  Nicholls,  commander 
of  a  British  force,  who  encouraged  them  in  their  determination  to 
compel  the  federal  government  to  restore  their  lands  in  Georgia 
and  Alabama. 

Runaway  slaves  from  Georgia  uniting  with  bands  of  Seminoles 
seized  an  empty  stronghold  which  Nicholls  had  built,  and  hence 
forth  it  was  known  as  the  "  Negro  Fort."  The  occupants  of  the 
fort  made  raids  across  the  border  and  plundered  the  Georgia  set 
tlers,  driving  off  cattle  and  enticing  slaves  to  join  them.  General 
Gaines  dispatched  an  expedition  against  the  negro  stronghold, 
and  a  well-directed,  red-hot  ball  passing  through  the  powder 
magazine  blew  the  fort  and  its  defenders  to  fragments  (1816). 

This  effectually  destroyed  the  negro  settlement,  but  as  the 
Seminoles  remained  unsubdued,  General  Jackson  was  ordered  to 
move  against  them.  Jackson  made  short  work  with  the  Indians 
he  encountered.  Believing  that  the  Spanish  garrison  at  St.  Mark's 
secretly  encouraged  the  hostile  Seminoles,  he  compelled  the  com 
mander  to  surrender  that  post  (1818). 

A  little  later,  he  seized  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  two  British 
subjects  who  were  engaged  in  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  accused 
them  of  stirring  up  the  savages  to  make  war  against  the  United 
States.  The  men  were  convicted  by  court-martial  and  hanged. 
Jackson  then  marched  on  the  Spanish  post  of  Pensacola  and 
seized  it  (1818)  on  the  ground  that  the  governor  encouraged  the 
Indians  to  make  raids  into  Alabama. 

318.  Jackson  and  Florida;  purchase  of  Florida.  Jackson  thus 
ended  the  first  Seminole  War.  In  doing  this  he  practically 


310        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [isis-isig 

conquered  Florida,  for  whose  purchase  we  were  then  negotiating 
with  Spain.  The  government  had  strictly  prohibited  his  seizing 
any  Spanish  post  unless  expressly  ordered  to  do  so.  Spain  pro 
tested  against  this  armed  invasion  of  her  territory ;  Jackson  justi 
fied  his  action  by  appealing  to  the  necessity  of  self-defense. 

He  declared  that  if  the  Spanish  authorities  could  not  or  would 
not  restrain  the  Seminoles  from  committing  outrages  on  American 
citizens,  he  had  the  military  right  to  seize  such  fortified  points  as 
would  effectually  secure  our  frontier.  The  administration,  how 
ever,  took  a  different  view  of  the  matter.  The  President  promptly 
disavowed  Jackson's  capture  of  St.  Mark's  and  Pensacola,  and 
restored  the  posts  to  the  Spanish  authorities  (1818). 

Spain  now  thought  it  expedient  to  dispose  of  a  province  which, 
on  account  of  its  situation,  was  likely  to  breed  more  wars  with  the 
United  States.  John  Quincy  Adams  negotiated  a  treaty *  of  pur 
chase  (1819)  which  was  ratified  in  1821.  By  its  terms  Spain  ceded 
to  us  the  whole  territory  of  East  and  West  Florida  for  the  sum  of 
$5,000,000,  and  at  the  same  time  renounced  her  claim  to  any 
part  of  the  Pacific  coast  north  of  the  forty-second  parallel.  This 
act  helped  to  confirm  our  title  to  the  "  Oregon  Country  "  (§  258). 
On  the  other  hand,  we  gave  up  whatever  territorial  right  we 
had  obtained  to  Texas  through  our  purchase  of  the  province  of 
Louisiana  (§  .280). 

319.  Business  crash  and  panic ;  separation  of  Church  and  State  ; 
the  suffrage  question;  the  steamship  " Savannah."  Meanwhile 
the  country  was  suffering  from  "  hard  times "  and  the  outlook 
was  most  discouraging.  The  introduction  of  the  steamboat  into 
western  waters  (§  286)  had  greatly  stimulated  emigration,  and 
this,  in  turn,  had  encouraged  widespread  and  reckless  land  specu 
lation.  To  accommodate  borrowers  banks  sprang  up  by  scores, 
so  that  before  the  close  of  1 8 1 8  nearly  four  hundred  such  institu 
tions  were  doing  business  in  twenty-three  states  and  territories. 
Most  of  these  institutions  deserved  the  name  of  "  wild-cat  banks." 
They  had  no  adequate  capital.  Many  of  them  were  guilty  of  gross 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  34. 


1818-1819]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    311 


fraud,  and  recklessly  issued  "  five  times  as  much  paper  as  they 
could  ever  redeem."  The  Bank  of  the  United  States  (§314)  itself 
was,  at  that  period,  not  free  from  charges  of  "  corruption  and 
breach  of  trust";  but  later  it  was  reorganized  on  a  sound  basis. 
The  Bank  resolved  to  force  these  worthless  state  banks  to  redeem 
the  notes  with  which  they  had  flooded  the  country.  This  action 
hastened  the  inevitable  crash  (1819).  It  was  the  first  financial 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AFTER  THE  PURCHASE  OF  FLORIDA  IN  1819 

From  1818  to  1846  the  "Oregon  Country"  was  held  jointly  with  Great  Britain. 
Spain  gave  up  all  claim  to  Oregon  in  1819;  all  the  territory  east  of  the  upper 
Mississippi  had  been  organized  (1805,  1818)  as  "  Michigan  Territory" 

panic  in  our  history.1  Business  came  to  a  standstill,  laborers  were 
thrown  out  of  employment,  and  the  jails  were  crowded  with  pen 
niless  debtors.  Benton  called  it  a  period  of  "  gloom  and  agony," 
and  John  Quincy  Adams  said  that  "  the  distress  was  universal." 

In  taking  the  decided  course  it  did,  the  United  States  Bank 
not  only  excited  the  bitter  hostility  of  the  debtor  class,  but  it 
moved  Maryland  and  Ohio  to  endeavor  to  destroy  its  branches 
1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  166. 


312         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [isis-1819 

in  these  states  by  taxing  them  out  of  existence.  But  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  decided  (McCulloch  vs.  Maryland)^  that 
the  action  was  unconstitutional.  Nevertheless  Ohio  reaffirmed 
the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  nullification  resolutions  (§  273)  and 
openly  defied  the  court.2 

While  these  dismal  events  occupied  the  public  mind  a  great 
political  movement  was  in  progress  in  New  England,  which 
resulted  in  the  final  separation  of  Church  and  State  (§  179). 
This  change  began  in  the  adoption  of  a  new  constitution  by  Con 
necticut  (1818).  It  extended  to  New  Hampshire  (1819),  then  to 
Maine  (1821),  and  finally  (1833)  to  Massachusetts.  It  granted 
the  right  of  suffrage  to  all  taxpayers  and  released  them  from  the 
compulsory  support  of  any  form  of  religious  worship. 

In  the  East  the  struggle  for  manhood  suffrage  was  still  opposed 
by  such  distinguished  leaders  of  thought  as  Chancellor  Kent  and 
Daniel  Webster.  Nevertheless  the  conviction  that  the  right  to 
vote  and  representation  should  not  rest  on  the  possession  of  prop 
erty  was  steadily  gaining  ground  and  was  destined  to  succeed. 

But  another  and  very  different  revolution  was  foreshadowed. 
In  the  spring  of  1819  the  Savannah,  an  American-built  sailing 
vessel,  provided  with  paddle  wheels  which  could  be  moved  by 
steam,  crossed  from  New  York  to  Liverpool.  She  was  the  first 
rude  attempt  at  an  ocean  steamer.  She  made  the  passage  in 
twenty-six  days.  There  were  packet  ships  then  that  could  easily 
beat  that  record,  but  the  Savannah  appears  to  have  suggested  the 
first  permanent  line  of  steamships.  These  vessels  were  launched 
in  England  in  1840,  and  were  the  forerunners  of  our  modem 
"  greyhounds  of  the  sea." 

320.  The  question  of  slavery  extension  ;  alternate  admission  of 
free  and  slave  states.  For  many  years  there  had  been  no  serious 
discussion  of  slavery  in  Congress ;  apparently  that  question  had 
been  put  to  final  rest  (§257).  Now  it  suddenly  sprang  to  life  in 
a  more  dangerous  form  than  ever. 

1  See  Abstract  of  Constitutional  Decisions  by  the  Court,  facing  page  266. 

2  See  Gordy's  Political  History  of  the  United  States,  II,  478. 


1818-1819]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT     313 

We  have  seen  (§  176)  that  Washington,  Franklin,  and  Jefferson 
believed  and  hoped  that  slavery  would  die  a  natural  death.  But 
the  occurrence  of  two  events  rendered  their  labors  in  the  cause 
of  emancipation  useless.  These  were  Whitney's  invention  of  the 
cotton  gin  (1793)  (§  259)  and  the  purchase  of  the  territory  of 
Louisiana  (1803)  (§  280).  The  first  made  slave  labor  enormously 
profitable  at  the  South ;  the  second  secured  its  extension  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River.  Thus  at  the  very  time  when  the  northern 
states  were  passing  acts  of  gradual  or  immediate  emancipation 
negro  bondage  was  strengthened  at  the  South,  and  was  gaining  the 
support  of  much  northern  manufacturing  and  commercial  capital. 

Congress  (1808)  had  prohibited  the  foreign  slave  trade  (§  257), 
but  it  still  flourished;  and  Judge  Story  declared  (1819)  that 
American  citizens  were  "  steeped  up  to  their  very  mouths  in  this 
stream  of  iniquity."  Unexpectedly  the  question  of  the  mainte 
nance  of  slavery  now  threatened  to  become  the  chief  economic, 
political,  and  moral  factor  in  the  history  of  the  United  States. 

From  this  period  the  Republic  became,  more  and  more,  "  a 
house  divided  against  itself."  Every  year  made  it  more  and  more 
difficult  for  the  federal  government  to  legislate  satisfactorily  for 
the  two  sections  with  their  antagonistic  tendencies  and  systems 
of  labor.  In  order  to  secure  an  even  division  of  political  power, 
Congress  had  adopted  the  policy  of  admitting  new  states  by  alter 
nation,  so  that  a  free  state  should  balance  a  slave,  or  a  slave  a 
free  (§  267).  Thus  Vermont  was  followed  by  Kentucky,  Ten 
nessee  by  Ohio,  Louisiana  by  Indiana,  Mississippi  by  Illinois. 
After  the  admission  of  Illinois  (1818)  there  were  eleven  free  to  ten 
slave  states  in  the  Union.  The  expected  admission  of  Alabama, 
which  in  fact  soon  occurred,  would  restore  the  political  equipoise 
and  make  the  Union  half  slave  and  half  free. 

321.  Missouri  applies  for  admission  as  a  slave  state;  Tall- 
madge's  amendment.  At  this  juncture  the  Legislature  of  Missouri 
territory  petitioned  Congress  (1818)  for  permission  to  form  a  state 
government.1  At  St.  Louis  and  elsewhere  about  ten  thousand 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  34-41. 


314          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1819 

negroes  were  held  in  bondage  under  territorial  laws  (§  280),  and  no 
one  doubted  that  the  people  of  Missouri  intended  to  make  it  a  slave 
state.  The  petition  was  referred  to  a  committee  which  brought  in 
a  favorable  bill.  This  action  was  a  surprise  to  the  North ;  for  since 
the  admission  of  the  state  of  Louisiana  (1812)  the  people  opposed 
to  slavery  (§  281)  had  taken  it  for  granted  that  no  further  attempts 
would  be  made  to  extend  it  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Most  of  them 
seem  to  have  had  no  interest  whatever  in  the  welfare  of  the 
negro.  What  they  feared  was  that  the  extension  of  slavery  would 
greatly  increase  the  political  power  of  the  South  in  Congress. 

When  the  Missouri  bill  came  up  in  the  House,  Tallmadge 
of  New  York  moved  an  amendment  (February  13,  1819)  pro 
hibiting  "  the  further  introduction  of  slavery  "  into  Missouri,  and 
requiring  that  "  all  children  born  within  the  said  state,  after  the 
admission  thereof  into  the  Union,  shall  be  free  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years."  1 

322.  Debate  on  Tallmadge's  amendment.  This  proposition 
roused  a  fierce  and  prolonged  debate  in  which  southern  threats 
of  secession  were  met  by  cool  defiance.  It  was  the  first  really 
formidable  "  battle  in  Congress  over  the  slavery  question."  While 
the  question  was  before  the  House  a  bill  was  introduced  to  pro 
vide  a  territorial  government  for  the  Arkansas  country,  where,  as 
in  the  Missouri  country,  slavery  already  existed.  Following  the 
example  of  Tallmadge,  Taylor  of  New  York  moved  that  slavery 
should  be  prohibited  in  the  new  territory.  After  a  sharp  contest 
his  motion  was  lost  and  Arkansas  was  organized  (March  2,  1819) 
without  the  proposed  restriction. 

This  act  seemed  to  foreshadow  the  extension  of  negro  bond 
age,  and  as  it  promised  to  extend  the  power  of  the  slaveholders  it 
greatly  excited  the  North.  But  the  discussion  of  the  Missouri 
question  far  outranked  that  of  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  and  it 
roused  passions  which  shook  the  foundations  of  the  Republic. 
Jefferson  said  that  the  angry  debate  startled  him  "  like  a  fire  bell 
in  the  night,"  and  seemed  "  the  knell  of  the  Union." 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  35. 


1819J         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        315 

Henry  Clay,  Speaker  of  the  House,  led  the  opponents  of 
Tallmadge's  motion.  He  argued  that  opening  up  new  territory 
to  slavery  would  not  thereby  increase  the  number  of  the  servile 
class,  but  that  it  would  "dilute  the  evil."  He  said  that  it  would 
be  inhuman  to  coop  up  the  slaves  on  the  exhausted  soil  of  plan 
tations  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  he  implored  Congress  to  throw 
open  Missouri  and  let  the  poor  negroes  "  share  the  fat  plenty  of 
the  new  West." 

He  and  his  followers  denied  that  Congress  had  the  constitu 
tional  power  to  impose  Tallmadge's  restriction  (Appendix,  page 
xiv,  §  3).  They  furthermore  declared  that  the  purchase  treaty 
of  1803  (§  280)  guaranteed  to  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  entire 
Louisiana  country  the  right  to  hold  slaves.  Finally,  they  con 
tended  that  Congress  could  not  prevent  emigrants  from  the 
southern  states  going  to  Missouri  and  taking  with  them  their 
negroes,  that  in  law  were  as  truly  their  property  as  were  their 
horses  and  cattle.  Senator  Benton  of  Missouri  first  replied  to  this 
argument  many  years  later.  He  said,  Granting  that  slaveholders 
may  carry  their  negroes  into  United  States  territory,  yet  they  can 
not  carry  with  them  the  southern  state  law,  which  alone  makes 
such  negroes  their  property.1  The  general  contention  set  up  by 
northern  members  was  that  Congress,  under  the  Confederation, 
had  shut  slavery  out  of  the  entire  Northwest  Territory  by  the 
Ordinance  of  1787  (§  237),  and  had  done  it  by  means  of  south 
ern  votes.  If  that  celebrated  act  was  constitutional,  —  and  no  one 
denied  it,  —  so,  too,  they  argued,  was  the  measure  now  proposed, 
since  it  simply  applied  to  the  region  beyond  the  Mississippi,  a  rule 
which  had  been  successfully  applied  east  of  that  river. 

Slavery,  said  they,  is  not  national,  but  local  and  accidental ;  it  is 
contrary  to  the  real  spirit  of  American  institutions.  To  extend  it 
would  be  to  deliberately  propagate  a  system  which  leading  south 
ern  men  have  always  admitted  to  be  a  moral  and  political  evil. 

Thus  supported,  Tallmadge's  amendment  passed  the  House  by 
a  vote  of  97  to  56,  but  it  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  The  House 

1  See  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  II,  745. 


3i6 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


[1819 


stood  firm,  and  Cobb  of  Georgia  declared  that  the  northern 
members  "  were  kindling  a  fire  "  which  nothing  but  blood  could 
extinguish.  Later,  Senator  Barbour  of  Virginia  proposed  calling 
a  convention  to  dissolve  the  Union. 

323.  The  people  discuss  the  Missouri  question ;  action  of  Con 
gress  on  Maine  and  Missouri.  After  the  adjournment  of  Congress 
in  the  spring  of  1819  the  people  of  both  sections  took  up  the 
Missouri  question.  Public  meetings  in  Boston,  New  York,  Phila 
delphia,  and  even  in  Baltimore  demanded  that  Congress  should 


MAP    ILLUSTRATING   THE    MISSOURI    COMPROMISE    ACT   OF    l82O 

The  act  did  not  mention  the  territory  south  of  36°  30',  but  the  understanding 
was  that  it  was  to  be  opened  to  slavery 

put  a  stop  to  the  spread  of  slavery  beyond  the  Mississippi.  The 
legislatures  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Indiana  warmly  seconded 
this  demand. 

The  South  generally  took  the  opposite  stand.  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  called  for  the  admission  of  Missouri  without  conditions, 
declaring  that  the  attempt  to  restrict  slavery  was  a  direct  attack 
on  state  rights. 


1819-1820]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT     317 

A  new  Congress  met  in  December,  1819,  and  the  debate  on  the 
admission  of  Missouri  was  resumed.  Missouri  again  petitioned 
for  admission.  The  discussion  of  the  question  of  restriction  was 
then  taken  up  in  the  Senate  and  very  ably  argued.  Rufus  King 
of  New  York  was  the  champion  of  free  soil,1  and  William  Pink- 
ney,  the  brilliant  Maryland  lawyer,  defended  the  cause  of  slavery.2 
While  the  House  was  considering  the  Missouri  question  the  dis 
trict  of  Maine,  recently  separated  from  Massachusetts  (§  105), 
asked  permission  to  enter  the  Union.  The  House,  by  a  sectional 
vote,  granted  Maine  her  prayer.  In  the  Senate  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary  added  a  "  rider"  —  the  first  on  record  —  to  the  Maine 
bill  which  provided  that  Missouri  should  be  admitted  without 
restriction  of  slavery.  As  neither  branch  of  Congress  would 
yield,  legislation  on  this  point  came  to  a  standstill. 

324.  The  Missouri  Compromise  proposed  and  passed  (1820). 
Senator  Thomas  of  Illinois  broke  the  deadlock.  He  had  already 
proposed  the  famous  amendment  which  got  the  name  of  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise.3  He  now  presented  that  amendment  again 
(February  17,  1820).  It  provided  that  the  state  of  Missouri 
should  be  admitted  with  slavery,  but  that  in  all  the  remaining  ter 
ritory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  north  of  the  line  36°  30',  —  or  the 
southern  boundary  of  Missouri,  —  slavery  should  be  "  forever  pro 
hibited."  It  was  understood  that  if  the  North  accepted  this 
proposition  no  further  opposition  would  be  made  on  the  part  of 
the  South  to  the  admission  of  Maine.  The  Senate  voted  in  favor 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise ;  when  it  came  to  the  House  it  was 
carried  (March  2,  1820)  by  the  active  help  of  Clay,  who  was  then 
Speaker,  and  by  the  votes  of  eighteen  northern  members. 

Benton  spoke  of  it  later  as  "  an  immense  concession  "  by  the 
South  to  the  nonslaveholding  states ;  but  the  friends  of  free  soil 
looked  upon  it  as  a  defeat.  John  Randolph  of  Virginia  stigma 
tized  the  Compromise  as  a  "dirty  bargain,"  and  nicknamed  the 

iSee  Johnston's  American  Orations,  II,  33. 

2  Ibid.,  63. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  37. 


31 8        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1820-1821 

northern  men  who  had  voted  for  it  "  Doughfaces  ";  only  three 
of  these  men  were  reflected  to  Congress. 

Before  signing  the  Missouri  Compromise  Bill,  President  Mon 
roe  asked  his  cabinet,  "  Has  Congress  the  constitutional  right 
to  prohibit  slavery  in  a  territory?"  All  of  his  cabinet,  includ 
ing  Calhoun,  and  two  other  members  from  slave  states,  replied, 
"  Yes."  The  President,  who  was  also  from  a  slave  state,  then 
signed  the  bill. 

The  entrance  of  the  two  states  of  Maine  and  Missouri  (1820, 
1821)  made  the  whole  number  twenty-four, — twelve  slave  and 
twelve  free. 

325.  What  Jefferson  and  John  Quincy  Adams  thought  of  the 
Compromise.    Thus  peace  was    obtained  ;  but  Jefferson  declared 
that  an  irritating  geographical  line  had  been  established,  and  he 
feared  that  the  question  of  the  further  extension  of  slavery  would 
eventually  make  "  separation  preferable  to  eternal  discord."    "  We 
have  the  wolf  by  the  ears,"  said  he,  "  and  we  can  neither  hold 
him  nor  safely  let  him  go."     But  notwithstanding  Randolph's 
sneer,  there  were  northern  men  who  had  no  "  dough  "  either  in 
face  or  character  who  had  given  the  measure  their  support.    John 
Quincy  Adams,  Secretary  of  State,  the  "  first  leader  in  the  long 
crusade  against  slavery,"  was  one.    He  said  :  "  I  have  favored  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  believing  it  all  that  could  be  effected  under 
the  present  Constitution,  and  from  extreme  unwillingness  to  put 
the  Union  to   hazard.  ...     If  the  Union   must  be  dissolved, 
slavery  is  precisely  the  question  on  which  it  ought  to  break.     For 
the  present,  however,  this  contest  is  laid  asleep."     The  phrase 
"  laid  asleep  "  was  wisely  chosen,  for  the  terrible  question  gained 
new  strength  through  repose ;  when  it  awoke  many  years  later  it 
showed  itself,  as  Jefferson  predicted  it  would,  more  irrepressible 
and  more  formidable  than  ever. 

326.  The  second  Missouri  Compromise ;  admission  of  the  state 
(1821)  ;  violation    of   the  Compromise   (1836).    When    Missouri 
formed  her  state  constitution1  she  forbade  the  entrance  of  free 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  40. 


1820-1821]     THE    UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    319 

negroes.  This  provision  raised  another  storm.  The  great  majority 
of  northern  members  in  the  House  voted  against  admitting  the 
state  unless  this  article  should  be  dropped.  Henry  Clay  effected 
a  compromise  by  which  the  Missouri  Legislature  pledged  the  state 
not  to  shut  out  any  colored  person  who  was  a  citizen  of  another 
state.  Missouri  was  then  admitted  (1821). 

Fifteen  years  later  (1836),  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  prac 
tically  violated  by  an  act  of  Congress  which  extended  the  area  of 
.the  state  on  the  northwest.  The  portion  added  was  nearly  as 
large  as  Rhode  Island  and  Delaware  (see  map  on  page  316);  the 
Compromise  of  1820  had  included  it  in  territory  which  was  to 
be  free  soil  "  forever,"  but  this  act  made  it  part  of  a  slave  state. 

327.  The  Crawford  Act;  "machine  politics";  the  presidential 
election.  Meanwhile  important  political  changes  had  been  taking 
place.  Throughout  the  states  it  had  now  become  the  practice  on 
the  incoming  of  a  new  governor  to  remove  officers  who  did  not 
agree  with  him  in  politics.  The  tendency  was  to  nationalize  this 
system  by  applying  it  to  federal  officers. 

William  H.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  an  aspirant 
for  the  presidency,  procured  the  passage  of  an  act1  (1820)  which 
greatly  increased  the  power  of  federal  patronage.  Hitherto  it 
had  been  the  custom  to  continue  the  subordinate  officers  of  the 
Treasury  Department  in  service  during  good  behavior.  The 
Crawford  Tenure  of  Office  Act  now  limited  their  term  to  four 
years.  This  was  the  commencement  of  that  regular  system  of 
rotation  in  office  and  of  ''political  rewards"  which  continued  until 
overturned  by  the  Civil  Service  Reform  movement  more  than 
half  a  century  later  (1872). 

Less  than  ten  years  after  the  passage  of  the  Crawford  Act 
party  leaders,  since  known  as  "  bosses,"  began  to  manage  presi 
dential  nominations  and  elections  by  means  of  methods  nick 
named  "  machine  politics."  The  so-called  "  gerrymander  "  —  a 
political  trick  for  securing  elections  by  unfairly  redistricting 
a  state  —  had  come  into  use  since  1811.  At  the  presidential 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  41. 


320          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1820- 

election  (1820)  there  was  no  division  of  parties,  and   Monroe 
obtained  every  electoral  vote  but  one. 

328.  The  Cumberland  or  National  Road  veto ;  Texas.    The  Cum 
berland  Road  (§  285),  the  first  great  national  undertaking  of  the 
kind,  projected  in  1806,  had  been  completed  across  the  moun 
tains.     By  1820  it  extended  to  Wheeling,  on  the  Ohio,  and  the 
entire  work   had  cost  about  $1,700,000.     Congress  now  passed 
a  bill  appropriating  money  for  the  erection  of  tollgates  on  the 
road;     Monroe,    who   was   a    "  strict   constructionist "    (§256), 
vetoed   it  on   the  ground  that   the  Constitution  gave  Congress 
no  power  to  make  this  class  of  "  internal  improvements." 

Later,  he  reconsidered  his  objections,  and  on  the  last  day 
of  his  administration  (1825)  signed  a  bill  for  extending  this 
important  road  to  Zanesville,  Ohio.  Eventually  this  broad, 
straight,  well-built  national  highway  was  pushed  through  nearly 
to  the  Mississippi.  The  whole  question  of  the  constitutionality 
of  "  internal  improvements "  continued  to  excite  sharp  debate 
until  the  advent  of  railroads  (1830),  built  by  stock  companies, 
put  an  end  to  the  discussion,  except  in  the  case  of  the  grant  to 
the  Illinois  Central  Railway  (1850)  and  to  some  of  the  great 
transcontinental  lines  which  followed. 

We  have  seen  (§  318)  that  when  we  purchased  Florida  (1819) 
we  renounced  all  claim  to  Texas ;  but  this  renunciation  did  not 
prevent  filibustering  expeditions  (1819-1821)  from  some  of  the 
southern  states.  Many  people  in  that  section  believed  that  the 
President  had  exceeded  his  powers  in  giving  up  our  claim  to 
Texas.  They  resolved  to  make  efforts  to  obtain  repossession  of 
that  province.  All  those  who  sought  to  extend  the  area  of  slavery, 
either  for  political  reasons  or  in  order  to  raise  the  market  price 
of  negroes  in  the  slave-breeding  states,  encouraged  those  efforts. 

329.  Emigration   to  Texas.     Stephen    F.   Austin  of   Missouri 
obtained  from  the  Republic  of  Mexico  a  large  grant  of  land  in 
the  Mexican  state  of  Texas,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Brazos  and  Colo 
rado  rivers,  and  many  emigrants  from  the  southwestern  states  went 
out  to   settle  on  it.     The  Texas  state  government  (1827)   had 


THE    CUMBERLAND    OR    NATIONAL    ROAD 

Through  the  influence  of  Henry  Clay,  who  was  called  "  the  Father  of  the  National 
Road,"  this  work  was  begun  in  1811  at  Fort  Cumberland,  Maryland.  It  was  completed 
to  Wheeling,  1820;  to  Zanesville,  1830;  to  Vandalia,  1836.  The  proposed  extension  to 
Jefferson  City,  Missouri,  was  never  carried  out,  since  after  1836  the  public  interest  began 
to  center  in  the  building  of  railways. 


SCENE    ON    THE    NATIONAL    ROAD 


322  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1823- 

Britain  in  protecting  the  Spanish-American  Republics  against  the 
designs  of  Spain  and  the  "  Holy  Alliance."  President  Monroe 
consulted  Jefferson  in  regard  to  the  matter.  Jefferson  said  :  "  Our 
first  and  fundamental  maxim  should  be  never  to  entangle  ourselves 
in  the  broils  of  Europe ;  our  second,  never  to  suffer  Europe  to 
intermeddle  with  cisatlantic  affairs."  After  discussion  at  a  cabi 
net  meeting  it  was  thought  best  to  respectfully  decline  Canning's 
invitation  of  cooperation. 

331.  The  President  promulgates  the  Monroe  Doctrine.    In  his 
annual  message1  (December  2,  1823)  the  President  called  the 
attention  of  Congress  to  the  schemes  of  the  Czar  and  of  the  "Holy 
Alliance."     Speaking  of  Russia,  he  said,  "The  American  conti 
nents,  by  the  free  and  independent  condition  which  they  have 
assumed  and  maintain,  are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as 
subjects  for  colonization  by  any  European  powers." 

Passing  next  to  the  projects  of  Spain  and  the  "Holy  Alliance  " 
with  respect  to  the  colonies  which  had  declared  their  independence, 
he  said,  "We  should  consider  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  allied 
powers  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere 
as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety."  He  added  that  should 
Europe  make  such  an  attempt,  we  could  not  view  it  "in  any  other 
light  than  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward 
the  United  States."  This  memorable  declaration  obtained  the 
name  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.2 

332.  Application  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.    The  Monroe  Doc 
trine  received  the  commendation  of  Webster  and  other  eminent 
statesmen.  [   It  has  been  popularly  understood  to  mean  that  we 
claim  "America  for  Americans  ";  or  that,  in  other  words,  we  say 
to  the  European  powers,  "  Since  we  do  not  meddle  with  your  con 
tinent,  you  must  keep  your  hands  off  ours."     Practically,  how 
ever,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  at  the  time  it  was  promulgated  was 
not  held  to  commit  us  to  anything  more  belligerent  than  what 
John  Quincy  Adams  called  "  the  mild  compulsion  of  reason." 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  43. 

2  See  Abstract  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  facing  page  322. 


THE   MONROE  DOCTRINE 

From  President  Monroe's  Message  to  Congress,  December  2, 1823. 

Fellow -Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

(I.)  "At  the  proposal  of  the  Russian  imperial  government 
.  .  .  a  full  power  and  instructions  have  been  transmitted 
to  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  St.  Petersburg,  to 
arrange,  by  amicable  negotiation,  the  respective  rights  and 
interests  of  the  two  nations  on  the  northwest  coast  of  this 
continent."  [Russia  at  that  time,  not  satisfied  with  owning 
Alaska,  claimed  the  greater  part  of  the  Oregon  country,  and 
was  attempting  to  plant  colonies  on  the  coast  of  the  Mexican 
State  of  California.]  .  .  .  "The  occasion  has  been  judged 
proper  for  asserting,  as  a  principle  in  which  the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  United  States  are  involved,  that  the  American 
continents,  by  the  free  and  independent  condition  which  they  have 
assumed  and  maintain,  are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as 
subjects  for  future  colonization  by  any  European  powers." 

(II.)  "In  the  wars  of  the  European  powers,  in  matters  relat 
ing  to  themselves,  we  have  never  taken  any  part,  nor  does  it 
comport  with  our  policy  so  to  do.  It  is  only  when  our  rights 
are  invaded,  or  seriously  menaced,  that  we  resent  injuries  or 
make  preparations  for  our  defence.  With  the  movements  in 
this  hemisphere  we  are,  of  necessity,  more  immediately  con 
nected  and  by  causes  which  must  be  obvious  to  all  enlightened 
and  impartial  observers.  The  political  system  of  the  Allied 
Powers  is  essentially  different  in  this  respect  from  that  of 
America.  .  .  .  We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor  and  to  the 
amicable  relations  existing  between  the  United  States  and 
those  Powers  to  declare  that  we  should  consider  any  attempt  on 
their  part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere 
as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety.  With  the  existing  colo 
nies  or  dependencies  of  any  European  power  we  have  not 
interfered  and  shall  not  interfere.  But  with  the  governments 
who  have  declared  their  independence "  [i.e.  the  Spanish 
South  American  Republics,  and  the  Republic  of  Mexico] 
"and  maintained  it,  and  whose  independence  we  have,  on 
great  consideration  and  on  just  principles,  acknowledged,  we 


could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppress 
ing  them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their  destiny, 
by  any  European  power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  the  mani 
festation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the  United  States. ' ' 


Note  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  —  The  essential  part  of  what  is  popularly 
known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine  will  be  found  in  the  passages  printed  in 
italics  in  the  above  message. 

Shortly  after  the  defeat  of  Napoleon  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo  (1815)  the 
sovereigns  of  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Russia,  who  had  been  leagued  against  the 
great  French  commander,  formed  a  "  Holy  Alliance."  The  object  of  this 
treaty  or  compact  was  to  suppress  any  attempts  to  establish  liberal  and 
popular  governments  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

In  1823  the  report  reached  the  United  States  that  the  Holy  Alliance  was 
preparing  to  help  Spain  conquer  Mexico  and  the  Republics  in  South  America 
which  had  declared  themselves  independent  of  the  Spanish  monarch. 

About  the  same  time  Russia  undertook  to  extend  her  possessions  on  the 
northwest  coast  of  America  so  as  to  endanger  our  hold  on  Oregon.  (See 
Paragraphs  216,  286.) 

John  Quincy  Adams,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  State,  told  the  Russian 
minister  that  "we  should  contest  the  right  of  Russia  to  any  territorial 
establishment  on  this  continent,  and  that  we  should  assume  distinctly  the 
principle  that  the  American  continents  are  no  longer  subjects  for  any  new 
European  colonial  establishments."  Mr.  Adams  believed  that  the  whole  of 
North  America  belonged  to  the  United  States  by  what  he  called  a  "law 
of  nature." 

Later  in  the  same  year  (1823)  Mr.  Canning,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
English  cabinet,  proposed  to  Mr.  Rush,  the  American  minister  in  London, 
that  the  United  States  should  cooperate  with  England  in  preventing  the 
Holy  Alliance  from  interfering  with  the  Spanish  American  Republics. 

President  Monroe  consulted  Jefferson  on  this  point  and  Jefferson  replied : 
"Our  first  and  fundamental  maxim  should  be,  never  to  entangle  ourselves 
in  the  broils  of  Europe.  Our  second,  never  to  suffer  Europe  to  intermeddle 
with  cis-Atlantic  affairs." 

In  these  utterances  of  John  Quincy  Adams  and  Ex-President  Jefferson 
we  have  the  idea  which  President  Monroe  formulated  in  his  Message.  The 
late  Dr.  Justin  Winsor  says  (Winsor's  "America,"  vii.  524)  that  "  Popular 
estimation  has  given  a  more  defiant  meaning  to  Monroe's  language  than  was 
intended."  But  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  Holy  Alliance  abandoned  the  proj 
ect  of  interfering  with  the  Spanish  American  Republics,  and  that  Russia,  by 
treaty  of  1824,  gave  up  all  claims  to  territory  south  of  54°  40',  or  the  southern 
boundary  of  Alaska.  See  Oilman's  "James  Monroe";  Morse's  "John  Quincy 
Adams"  ;  and  Prof.  Woolsey  on  the  "  Monroe  Doctrine"  in  Johnson's  "  Uni 
versal  Cyclopaedia  "  (new  edition). 


1824]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        323 

In  the  next  administration  (1826)  the  question  came  up  whether 
the  United  States  should  undertake  the  defense  of  the  Spanish- 
American  Republics  (including  Mexico)  by  armed  force.  Presi 
dent  Adams  and  the  House  of  Representatives  both  declared  that 
we  were  under  no  such  obligations. 

As  it  is  now  understood,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  seems  to  express 
(i)  the  determination  on  our  part  not  to  interfere  with  the  exist 
ing  possessions  held  in  America  by  any  European  power ;  (2)  to 
resist  by  formal  protest,  or  by  such  means  as  may  be  most  expe 
dient,  any  further  attempts  at  colonization  in  America,  or  European 
interference  with  the  affairs  of  independent  states  on  either  of  the 
American  continents ;  and  (3)  to  endeavor  to  secure  the  settle 
ment  of  such  questions,  as  in  the  case  of  Mexico  (1868)  and  of 
Venezuela  (1896),  by  international  arbitration1  (§§  520,  564). 

After  the  enunciation  of  this  principle  Russia  made  a  treaty 
with  the  United  States.  The  Czar  gave  up  all  claims  on  the 
Pacific  coast  of  America  south  of  54°  40',  —  or  the  present  south 
ern  boundary  of  Alaska,  —  and  granted  to  American  citizens  the 
right  to  trade  on  the  coast  north  of  that  parallel  and  to  fish  in 
its  waters. 

The  "  Holy  Alliance  "  ceased  to  encourage  projects  for  the  over 
throw  of  the  Spanish  Republics.  This  change  was  due  partly  to  the 
decided  language  we  had  used  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  partly 
to  the  fact  that  England,  following  our  example,  had  recognized 
the  independence  of  those  Republics. 

333.  The  tariff  of  1824.  The  tariff  of  1816  (§  314)  was  de 
cidedly  protective  with  regard  to  cotton  and  woolen  goods,  but 
not  conspicuously  so  with  respect  to  other  articles.  The  middle 
and  western  states,  with  certain  sections  of  New  England,  now 
demanded  higher  duties  on  wool,  iron,  and  hemp.  Clay  wished 
to  make  the  United  States,  as  far  as  possible,  independent  of  the 
industries  of  Europe  (§314).  With  this  aim  he  came  forward  in 
a  great  speech  as  the  champion  of  what  he  called  "  a  genuine 

1  See  Secretary  Olney's  interpretation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  1895  and  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt's  in  1902. 


324          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1824 

American  policy."  In  all  tariff  legislation  preceding  that  of  1816 
(§  314),  revenue  had  been  the  main  object  and  protection  the 
incident,  but  Clay,  taking  the  "  broad-construction"  view  (§  256), 
now  carried  through  a  bill  (1824)  in  favor  of  "  protection  for  the 
sake  of  protection."  This,  however,  he  explained  to  be  a  tem 
porary  measure  to  enable  our  "  infant  manufactures  "  to  perfect 
themselves.  Then,  said  he,  we  shall  be  ready  "  to  put  aside 
protection  and  to  enter  upon  the  freest  exchanges."  * 

Webster  spoke  against  Clay's  policy,  and  the  South,  which  had 
changed  its  attitude  (§  314),  was  almost  solidly  opposed  to  such 
a  measure.  That  section  now  had  a  constantly  increasing  foreign 
demand  for  their  cotton,  and  found  it  for  their  interest  to  purchase 
English  goods  in  exchange.  The  new  tariff  enacted  by  Congress 
(1824) 2  fixed  the  average  scale  of  duties  at  a  considerably  higher 
rate  than  the  act  of  1816  had  done.  The  South  denounced  the 
measure  as  "  sectional,  unconstitutional,  and  unjust."  Later,  this 
denunciation  culminated,  as  we  shall  see,  in  open  nullification 
and  threats  of  secession. 

334.  Lafayette's  visit.  In  1824  Congress  invited  Lafayette  to 
visit  the  United  States  as  the  "  nation's  guest."  He  reached  New 
York  in  the  summer  of  that  year,  after  more  than  forty  years' 
absence.  He  came,  as  he  said,  to  see  the  "  beloved  land  "  of 
which  it  had  been  his  "  happy  lot  to  become  an  early  soldier  and 
an  adopted  son." 

In  the  dark  days  of  the  Revolution  he  had  generously  opened 
his  purse  and  risked  his  life  in  our  cause.  He  was  now  old  and 
poor ;  but  America  convinced  him  that  he  was  not  forgotten.  He 
spent  more  than  a  year  (182 4- 1825)  in  traveling  through  the  coun 
try,  and  visited  every  state  in  the  Union.  It  has  been  said  that 
"only  Washington  himself,  had  he  risen  from  the  grave,  could 
have  called  forth  deeper  feelings  of  reverence  and  affection." 
Clay  welcomed  him  in  an  eloquent  address  made  in  behalf  of  the 
nation,  and  with  his  own  hands  Lafayette  laid  the  corner  stone  of 

!See  Speeches  of  Henry  Clay,  I,  471;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  1,32,  314; 
H>  113.  2  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  173. 


1824]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        325 

Bunker  Hill  Monument.  Congress  voted  him  the  sum  of  $200,- 
ooo  together  with  a  township  of  23,000  acres  of  land  in  Florida, 
and  he  returned  to  France  in  the  new  frigate  Brandywine  (§  215), 
named  in  honor  of  his  services  in  that  battle. 

335.  Overthrow  of  "King  Caucus";  the  presidential  election 
(1824);  charge  of  "a  corrupt  bargain."  Washington  and  John 
Adams  had  been  chosen  candidates  for  the  presidency  by  popular 
agreement,  but  in  1800  the  system  of  nominating  presidential 
candidates  by  Congressional  caucus  began,  although  it  was  not 
fully  established  until  four  years  later  (§  284).  This  very  undemo 
cratic  method  roused  vigorous  opposition;  in  1820  the  mem 
bers  of  Congress  made  no  nomination,  and  in  1824  the  force  of 
public  opinion  finally  defeated,  the  despotic  "  King  Caucus."  ] 
The  four  leading  candidates  for  the  presidency  in  1824  were  John 
Quincy  Adams,  who,  as  Secretary  of  State  under  Monroe,  was  ".heir 
apparent"  (§  314),  Henry  Clay,  W.  H.  Crawford  (§  327),  and 
Andrew  Jackson,  who  was  wholly  unknown  in  politics.  As  three 
of  them  had  never  before  tried  their  powers  in  such  a  contest,  the 
campaign  was  called  "  the  scrub  race  for  the  presidency."  All  four 
were  nominally  members  of  the  Democratic-Republican  party,  — 
the  only  national  party  then  in  existence  (§  310). 

Adams  and  Clay  were  "broad  constructionists  "  (§  256)  who 
strongly  favored  the  expenditure  of  a  part  of  the  public  money  for 
the  building  of  roads,  canals,  and  other  "  internal  improvements." 
Crawford  and  Jackson,  on  the  contrary,  held  "  strict-construction  " 
views  (§  256)  on  this  point,  and  believed  such  "improvements" 
should  be  made  by  the  states  themselves  at  their  own  expense. 
Again,  Adams  and  Clay  both  favored  "  protection,"  while  Crawford 
declared  himself  for  a  revenue  tariff  only.  Jackson's  views  on  this 
question  were  unknown,  but  he  was  supposed  to  incline  toward 
"  protection." 

In  the  end  the  contest  narrowed  itself  down  to  the  choice  of 
either  Jackson  or  Adams.  Previous  to  this  time  the  presidential 

1  See  Stanwood's  History  of  the  Presidency,  ch.  xi ;  McKee's  National  Conven 
tions,  20. 


326        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1824-1825 

electors  had  generally  been  chosen  by  the  state  legislatures,  but 
in  1824  they  were  chosen,  in  eighteen  states  out  of  twenty-four, 
by  the  people.  The  popular  vote  was  now  recorded  for  the 
first  time.  The  total  number  of  ballots  cast  was  352,062,  and 
it  was  estimated  that  the  Jackson  electors  received  upwards  of 
50,000  more  votes  than  the  Adams  electors.  Hence,  so  far  as  the 
direct  voice  of  the  people  could  decide  it,  Jackson  was  successful. 
None  of  the  presidential  candidates,  however,  obtained  a  clear 
majority  of  the  electoral  votes ;  the  Constitution,  therefore, 
required  the  House  of  Representatives  to  "choose  by  ballot  one 
of  them  for  President  "  (Appendix,  page  xvii). 

In  the  House,  Clay's  friends  united  with  those  of  Adams  and 
chose  the  latter,  John  C.  Calhoun  having  been  elected  Vice  Pres 
ident.  The  excitement  over  this  announcement  was  intense. 
The  House  of  Representatives  had  followed  strictly  constitutional 
methods ;  but  Jackson's  friends  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  he 
was  entitled  to  the  presidency,  since,  of  the  two  chief  candidates, 
he  had  received  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote. 

John  Randolph  denounced  the  coalition  of  Adams'  and  Clay's 
supporters  as  a  "  combination  of  the  Puritan  and  the  blackleg"; 
and  it  was  openly  charged  that  Clay,  by  a  "  corrupt  bargain,"  had 
sold  himself  to  Adams  in  return  for  the  promise  of  the  appoint 
ment  of  Secretary  of  State  in  the  latter's  cabinet.  Clay  indig 
nantly  denied  this  report ;  but  as  Adams  made  him  Secretary  of 
State,  his  denial  went  for  nothing.  Jackson  himself  was  hot 
against  Clay,  and  privately  declared  that  this  "Judas  of  the 
West"  had  deliberately  betrayed  him. 

336.  Summary.  Following  the  chronological  order,  the  most 
important  events  in  Monroe's  administration  were  :  (i)  the  pur 
chase  of  Florida ;  (2)  the  Missouri  Compromise,  whereby  slavery 
was  admitted  to  that  state,  but  "  forever  "  prohibited  from  all  other 
parts  of  the  Louisiana  territory  north  of  the  parallel  of  36°  30'; 
(3)  the  enunciation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which  denied  the 
right  of  European  powers  to  interfere  with  affairs,  outside  of  their 
respective  colonies,  in  either  of  the  American  continents. 


1825-]       THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        327 

JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS    (DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN),   ONE 
TERM  (1825-1829) 

337.  Inaugural  address ;  u  internal  improvements."  The  key 
note  of  the  President's  (§  335)  inaugural  address  was  his  urgent 
recommendation  that  the  national  government  should  encourage 
a  great  system  of  roads,  canals,  and  other  public  works.  Monroe 
strongly  favored  such  a  policy,  but  thought  that  it  required  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  to  authorize  it.  Mr.  Adams  did 
not  think  such  an  amendment  necessary.  As  a  "  broad  construc- 
tionist "  (§  256)  he  was  positive  that  the  Constitution  did  sanc 
tion  works  which  "  would  bind  the  Union  more  closely  together." 
But  Mr.  Adams  went  further ;  following  the  suggestions  of  Wash 
ington,  he  earnestly  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  national 
university  and  a  naval  school.  The  latter  he  considered  a  neces 
sary  complement  to  the  United  States  Military  Academy  founded 
(1802)  at  West  Point.  Twenty  years  later  (1845),  Congress  estab 
lished  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis. 

Congress  was  ready  to  grant  appropriations  to  facilitate  com 
munication  which  would  render  every  part  of  the  country  "  more 
accessible  to,  and  dependent  on,  the  other."  The  Cumberland 
or  National  Road  (§  328)  was  pushed  westward  from  Zanesville, 
Ohio,  toward  the  Mississippi.  It  not  only  helped  to  fill  the  West 
with  population,  but  it  greatly  strengthened  the  bonds  of  union 
between  the  East  and  the  West.  Besides  this  work,  extensive 
coast  and  river  surveys  were  made,  and  the  construction  of 
important  canals  undertaken.  The  activity  of  the  government 
was  so  great  that  this  has  been  called  "  the  epoch  of  internal 
improvements."  In  the  course  of  Mr.  Adams'  administration 
nearly  $14,000,000  was  spent  on  works  of  "permanent  benefit 
to  the  country."  Of  this  sum  more  than  $4,000,000  was  laid  out 
on  roads  and  canals.  This  amount  exceeded  the  total  expendi 
ture  for  such  purposes  of  all  Mr.  Adams'  predecessors. 

The  President  congratulated  the  nation  that  these  public  enter 
prises  had  been  carried  out  "  without  adding  a  dollar  to  the  taxes 


328          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1825- 

or  debts  of  the  community."  Later,  he  had  an  unexpected 
opportunity  to  show  his  faith  by  his  works.  He  was  to  throw  the 
first  shovelful  of  earth  at  the  opening  of  a  new  canal  between  the 
East  and  the  West.  He  chanced  to  meet  with  some  obstacle, 
and  he  at  once  pulled  off  his  coat  and  began  to  handle  his  spade 
with  such  energy  that  the  delighted  multitude  cheered  to  the 
echo.  It  was  perhaps  the  only  act  of  his  entire  presidential  career 
which  the  people  hailed  with  applause,  for  Mr.  Adams  was  a  man 
whose  virtues  made  few  friends ;  he  never  gained  popularity  and 
he  certainly  never  coveted  it. 

338.  The  Erie  Canal  and  its  results.  As  early  as  1808  Judge 
Forman  of  Onondaga,  New  York,  moved  in  the  Legislature  that 
steps  be  taken  toward  connecting  the  waters  of  the  Hudson  with 
those  of  Lake  Erie.  The  motion  was  not  carried  into  effect  at  the 
time,  but  later  James  Geddes  was  commissioned  to  make  a  pre 
liminary  survey.  The  War  of  1812  convinced  the  people  of  New 
York  that  the  work  of  constructing  the  proposed  canal  could 
not  be  safely  postponed.  The  cost  of  transportation  from  the 
seaboard  to  Detroit  was  fifty  cents  a  pound  for  ammunition  and 
sixty  dollars  a  barrel  for  flour. 

It  was  evident  that  a  continuous  waterway  between  New  York 
City  and  the  West  would  be  of  incalculable  advantage  to  both  sec 
tions.  On  the  one  hand,  it  would  open  a  market  to  the  western 
farmer  for  his  produce ;  on  the  other,  it  would  furnish  an  outlet 
for  eastern  goods  and  imports.  Governor  Clinton  urged  the 
Legislature  to  begin  the  important  work  without  further  delay. 
Finally,  his  zeal  overcame  all  opposition,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1817  a  gang  of  laborers  began  to  excavate  the  trench  which 
opponents  ridiculed  as  "  Clinton's  Big  Ditch." 

The  entire  canal  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1825.  It 
extended  from  Albany  to  Buffalo,  a  distance  of  363  miles,  and 
tapped  Lake  Erie  at  a  height  of  several  hundred  feet  above  tide 
water.  The  average  cost  was  nearly  $20,000  a  mile,  and  it  was 
built  by  the  state  when  its  population  hardly  exceeded  a  million, 
and  when  it  had  no  surplus  revenue  to  spare.  The  work  was 


1825-]       THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        329 

substantially  done,  with  "  immense  embankments,  noble  aque 
ducts,  and  massive  locks." 

When  (October  26,  1825)  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  were  let 
into  the  great  trench,  Governor  Clinton,  attended  by  many  dis 
tinguished  men,  made  the  journey  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  and 
thence  to  New  York  City  in  a  fleet  of  gayly  decorated  canal 
boats.  Fieldpieces  had  been  placed  along  the  entire  route  at 
intervals  of  about  five  miles;  and,  when  the  canal  was  opened, 
this  cannon  telegraph  flashed  the  news  from  Buffalo  to  New 
York  in  ninety  minutes.  Kegs  of  water  from  Lake  Erie  were 
carried  on  the  boats  from  Buffalo  to  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson. 
The  governor  completed  the  celebration  by  emptying  the  con 
tents  of  one  of  the  kegs  into  the  salt  water.  By  this  act  he 
commemorated,  as  he  declared,  "  the  navigable  communication 
accomplished  between  our  mediterranean  seas  and  the  Atlantic 
Ocean." 

The  canal  (since  reconstructed  (§597))  shortened  the  time 
from  Albany  to  Buffalo  one  half ;  reduced  rates  on  freight  from  $88 
a  ton  to  less  than  $6,  and  later  to  $3;  and  greatly  facilitated  the 
movement  of  emigration  to  the  West.  Furthermore,  it  stimulated 
settlements  all  along  the  line.  These  have  since  grown  into  prosper 
ous  towns  and  wealthy  cities.  Finally,  the  canal  helped  to  make  the 
city  of  New  York  "  the  great  distributing  center  of  the  North."  1 

339.  u  The  great  Western  march.'*  On  the  day  of  Mr.  Adams' 
inauguration  the  greater  part  of  Ohio  was  still  covered  with  forests, 
and  most  of  Illinois  was  a  prairie  wilderness.  But  on  the  Erie 
Canal  and  the  National  Road  (§§  328,  337,  338)  a  procession  of 
boats  and  wagons  crowded  with  emigrants  from  the  East  was 
steadily  moving  toward  the  Mississippi.  The  Ohio  (§258),  from 
Pittsburg,  was  alive  with  barges  passing  down  the  river  and  car 
rying  whole  households,  with  their  cattle,  hogs,  horses,  and  sheep. 
A  number  of  steamboats  were  regularly  running  not  only  on  the 
rivers  of  the  West  but  on  the  Great  Lakes,  and  they  contributed 
their  part  toward  aiding  the  emigration. 

iSee  McMaster's  United  States,  V,  132;  Semple's  American  History,  267. 


330          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1825 

In  the  decade  between  1820  and  1830  Michigan  Territory 
gained  260  per  cent  in  the  number  of  its  inhabitants ;  Illinois, 
180;  Arkansas  territory,  142;  Indiana,  133;  and  Ohio  increased 
from  a  population  of  about  576,000  to  nearly  a  million. 

The  United  States  offered  land  at  two  dollars  an  acre  and  gave 
the  settler  ample  time  to  pay  for  it.  Eventually  the  farmer  could 
get  a  quarter  section,  or  160  acres,  for  about  $26,  so  that  practi 
cally  he  received  his  homestead  as  a  gift  from  the  government. 
In  every  township  one  section,  or  a  thirty-sixth  of  the  public  lands, 
was  set  apart  to  maintain  free  schools.  Cheap  land  and  free  edu 
cation  both  stimulated  the  emigrant's  "  great  Western  march  "  to 
that  land  of  promise  destined  to  become  the  center  of  population 
and  of  political  power. 

No  official  record  of  immigration  from  abroad  was  begun  until 
1820,  but  between  1820  and  1830  about  150,000  foreigners  set 
tled  in  the  United  States.  A  large  proportion  of  them  made  their 
homes  in  the  West.  More  than  one  half  of  these  newcomers  were 
from  the  British  Isles.  The  great  tide  of  immigration  (§374), 
however,  did  not  begin  until  many  years  later  (1847). 

340.  Dispute  with  Georgia  concerning  Indian  land  cessions.  By 
a  treaty  made  with  the  chief  of  the  Creek  Indians,  all  lands  owned 
by  that  tribe  in  Georgia  were  ceded  (1825)  to  the  United  States. 
The  Creeks  protested  against  this  cession,  declaring  that  it  had 
been  made  by  certain  Indians  without  the  sanction  of  their  tribe. 
President  Adams  ordered  the  enforcement  of  the  treaty  to  be  sus 
pended  until  General  Gaines  could  confer  with  the  Creek  nation. 

Governor  Troup  of  Georgia  determined  to  have  the  ceded 
lands  surveyed  at  once,  as  a  step  toward  the  expulsion  of  the 
Indians.  He  threatened  to  call  out  the  military  force  of  the 
state  to  resist  General  Gaines  and  his  body  of  federal  troops. 
The  Creeks  at  length  (1826)  signed -a  new  treaty  by  which  they 
bound  themselves  to  give  up  all  their  lands  in  Georgia  and  to 
emigrate  across  the  Mississippi. 

Before  the  transfer  was  completed  a  serious  dispute  arose 
between  the  governor  of  Georgia  and  the  President  of  the  United 


1825-]       THE  "UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        331 

States  respecting  the  survey  of  a  part  of  the  Creek  country.  At 
one  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  controversy  must  be  settled  by  the 
sword.  Happily,  however,  a  way  was  found  to  compromise  the 
difficulty ;  but  Governor  Troup  predicted  that  eventually  the  slave 
states  must  "  confederate  "  to  protect  slavery.1 

Later  (1828),  Georgia  assumed  jurisdiction  over  the  lands  of 
the  Cherokee  reservation  held  by  that  semicivilized  tribe  under 
treaty  with  the  federal  government.  The  President  protested, 
but  the  House  justified  the  action  of  the  state.  Practically  Georgia 
nullified  the  Cherokee  treaty  and  afterward  (1831)  refused  to  obey 
a  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 2  which  sustained 
the  rights  claimed  by  the  Indians  (§  355). 

341.  The  Panama  Congress;  new  political  parties ;  the  tem 
perance  movement.  Meanwhile  the  Spanish-American  Republics 
had  invited  the  United  States  to  send  delegates  to  a  Congress  at 
Panama  to  discuss  what  action  should  be  taken  respecting  Euro 
pean  interference  or  colonization  (§  332).  Congress  accepted 
the  invitation,  but  passed  an  informal  resolution  declining  to  take 
any  definite  joint  action  with  the  Spanish-American  governments. 
The  Panama  Congress  met,  but  dissolved  before  our  delegates 
arrived,  and  nothing  more  was  done. 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Adams  entered  office  his  friends  and  Clay's 
united  in  forming  a  new  party,  which  took  the  name  of  National 
Republicans  and  later  that  of  Whigs.  They  stood  on  the  plat-  . 
form  of  "broad  construction"  (§  256);  they  advocated  a  pro 
tective  tariff  and  demanded  "  internal  improvements  "  (§  337)  by 
the  national  government.  The  regular  Democratic-Republicans, 
under  the  lead  of  the  Jackson  men,  soon  became  known  as  Demo 
crats;  generally  speaking,  they  favored  the  "  strict-construction  " 
(§  256)  interpretation  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  southern  por 
tion  of  the  party  laid  stress  on  state  rights.  The  chief  public 
questions  of  the  day  were  the  maintenance  of  the  United  States 

1  See  Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union,  255  ;  Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History 
of  the  United  States,  I,  443-448. 

2  See  Abstract  of  Constitutional  Decisions  by  the  Court,  facing  page  266. 


332          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1825 

Bank  (§§  314,  319),  the  Tariff  (§§  342-345),  and  Internal 
Improvements  (§§  314,  337). 

A  third  political  party  had  now  come  into  existence.  A  man 
named  Morgan  had  published  a  book  claiming  to  reveal  the  secrets 
of  Freemasonry.  Morgan  suddenly  disappeared,  and  many  persons 
believed  that  the  Masons  had  made  away  with  him.  The  excite 
ment  caused  the  organization  of  an  Anti- Masonic  party  in  western 
New  York,  which  bound  itself  to  oppose  the  election  of  any 
member  of  the  Masonic  Order  to  public  office.  The  new  party 
generally  voted  with  the  National  Republicans ;  it  exercised  con 
siderable  influence  for  several  years,  but  then  lost  power. 

When  Mr.  Adams  entered  office  liquor  was  freely  used  by  all 
classes  of  society.  The  mechanic,  the  farm  laborer,  and  the 
merchant  all  thought  that  they  must  have  it ;  it  was  bountifully 
supplied  at  weddings,  funerals,  college  commencements,  and 
ministerial  ordinations ;  and  children  used  to  buy  it  by  the  cent's 
worth  at  the  corner  groceries. 

Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  of  Connecticut  appears  to  have  led  the 
movement  of  reform  (1811).  The  result  of  his  work  was  the 
establishment  of  the  "  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Suppression 
of  Intemperance"  (1813),  followed  in  1826  by  the  organization 
of  the  "American  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Temperance," 
which  ten  years  later  (1836)  took  its  stand  on  the  platform  of 
total  abstinence.  Four  years  afterward  (1840)  the  "  Washingto- 
nian  Temperance  Society  "  was  formed  at  Baltimore  to  reclaim 
habitual  drunkards. 

Eventually  the  Total  Abstinence  movement  began  to  demand 
the  entire  suppression  of  liquor  selling,  and  in  1851  Maine  passed 
the  first  prohibitory  law.  Later,  a  number  of  other  states  made 
experiments  in  the  same  direction  and  decided  against  prohibi 
tion ;  but  five  —  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Kansas,  and  North 
and  South  Dakota  —  joined  with  Maine  in  absolutely  forbidding 
the  sale  of  all  intoxicating  drink  as  a  beverage.  The  law,  how 
ever,  has  encountered  many  serious  obstacles,  which  have  gen 
erally  checked  its  rigid  enforcement  in  the  large  towns. 


1825-1827]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    333 

In  1872  a  new  political  party  —  the  Prohibitionists  —  entered 
the  national  field.  Later,  they  pledged  themselves  by  their  plat 
form  to  add  a  prohibitory  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

342.  Commercial  treaties  ;  West  India  trade ;  the  Harrisburg 
Convention   and  the  tariff.     The    President   negotiated    a   great 
number  of  commercial  treaties  which  secured  a  large  and  pros 
perous  trade  with  the  Spanish- American  Republics  and  with  other 
powers.     In   1822   Great  Britain  had  opened  the  ports  of  her 
possessions  in  the  West  Indies  (§§  249,  265,  266,  312)  to  us  on 
advantageous  terms,  but  in  1825  the  English  government  again 
cut  us  off  from  that  very  lucrative  trade. 

President  Adams  made  energetic  attempts  to  induce  England 
to  reopen  those  ports  to  us,  but  failed  to  accomplish  anything. 
Finally,  by  virtue  of  a  law  passed  under  the  preceding  adminis 
tration,  he  issued  a  proclamation  (1827)  of  retaliation,  and 
declared  that  all  commercial  intercourse  with  those  ports  was 
prohibited. 

In  the  summer  of  1827  a  National  Convention  of  Protectionists 
met  at  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania.  They  were  dissatisfied  with  the 
tariff  of  1824  (§333),  and  demanded  that  higher  duties  should 
be  levied  on  woolens,  iron,  hemp,  and  other  products.  The  object 
of  the  convention  was  twofold  :  first,  to  protect  home  industries ; 
and  secondly,  to  retaliate  on  Great  Britain  for  her  exclusion  of 
these  articles. 

343.  The  so-called  "  tariff  of  abominations."    At  the  next  ses 
sion  of  Congress  (1827)  a  tariff  bill  embodying  the  measures  of 
the  Protectionists  was  brought  in.     Clay,  Adams,  and  Jackson, 
who  were  candidates  for  the  presidency,  advocated  it.     But  the 
division  on  it  was  almost  purely  sectional ;  the  North  and  West 
were  for  it,  while  the  South  opposed  it  (§  333).     In  the  case  of 
the  tariffs  of  1816  and  1824  (§§314,  333)  Daniel  Webster  had 
declared  himself  the  champion  of  a  free- trade  or  revenue  tariff 
except  in  the  case  of  manufactures  already  established,  and  which 
seemed  to  require  defense  against  foreign  competition.     He  now 


334          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [im 

came  out  strongly  for  protection.  He  took  the  ground  that  since 
New  England  had  been  forced  by  the  act  of  1824  to  invest  a  large 
part  of  her  capital  in  woolen  manufactures,  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
national  government  to  guard  that  capital  against  sudden  and 
ruinous  loss. 

Southern  men  protested  against  this  policy.  Cotton,  rice,  and 
tobacco  then  constituted  the  chief  American  exports,  and  they 
were  exchanged  for  articles  of  European  manufacture  on  advan 
tageous  terms.  The  South  wished,  therefore,  to  keep  up  this  trade 
as  it  stood,  and  to  purchase  her  goods  where  she  could  get  them 
cheapest. 

A  senator  from  Maryland  denounced  the  proposed  system  of 
protection  as  a  "  tariff  of  abominations,"  and  John  Randolph 
of  Virginia  said  it  should  be"  called  "  a  bill  to  rob  and  plunder 
nearly  one  half  of  the  Union  for  the  benefit  of  the  residue." 
Senator  Hayne  of  South  Carolina  went  further  and  declared  that 
the  proposed  law  "  was  calculated  to  sever  the  bonds  of  the 
Union." 

344.  Passage  of  the  tariff  bill.    After  a  violent  debate  of  six 
weeks  the  new  tariff  bill  was  passed  (1828)  amidst  the  wildest 
excitement.1     The  vote  in  the  Senate  stood  26  to  21,  and  in  the 
House  105  to  94.    The  act  increased  the  duties  from  the  previous 
rates  of  1824.     The  rate  on  cottons  was  left  unchanged,  but  that 
on   hemp  was    increased   nearly    100   per  cent,   while    that   on 
woolens  was  more  than  double  that  of  the  tariff  of  1824.    For 
this  reason  it  is  often  called  the  "Woolen  Tariff."    Some  of  the 
most  obnoxious  features  of  the  act  were  incorporated  in  it  by  its 
enemies  as  a  "  political  job."      They  hoped  thereby  either  to  kill 
the  measure  or  to  kill  Adams'  chances  for  a  second  presidential 
term  if  he  signed  the  bill.2    This  tariff  "  represented  the  high- 
water  mark  of  protective  legislation  before  the  Civil  War." 

345.  Opposition  of  South  Carolina  to  the  tariff.    The  people  of 
many  towns  in  South  Carolina  held  mass  meetings  at  which  they 

iSeeDewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  176,  181. 

2  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  I,  40,  or  the  Cambridge  United  States,  377. 


1828-1829]     THE    UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    335 

resolved  to  wear  homespun  and  to  refuse  to  buy  any  cloth  made 
north  of  the  Potomac.  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Alabama  declared  the  new  tariff  a  violation  of  the  Constitution. 
Calhoun  drew  up  an  "Exposition  and  Protest"1  which,  after 
some  changes,  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina. 
The  "  Exposition  "  denounced  the  tariff  as  an  act  of  tyranny  on 
the  part  of  the  majority,  and  as  directly  contrary  to  the  plain 
spirit  of  the  Constitution.  The  manifesto  further  declared  that, 
should  the  federal  government  persist  in  enforcing  the  protective 
system,  it  would  be  "the  sacred  duty"  of  South  Carolina  "to 
arrest  the  progress  of  a  usurpation  .  .  .  which  .  .  .  must  cor 
rupt  the  public  morals  and  destroy  the  liberty  of  the  country." 
Webster  considered  the  situation  very  grave.  He  wrote,  "  In 
December,  1828, 1  became  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  plan  of 
a  Southern  Confederacy  had  been  received  with  favor  by  a  great 
many  of  the  political  men  of  the  South." 

346.  The  presidential  election.     At  the   presidential  election 
(1828)   the   candidates  were    chosen   by   common   consent  and 
indorsed  by  the  legislatures  of  the  states  (§  335).     They  were 
John  Quincy  Adams,  National  Republican  (§  341),  and  Andrew 
Jackson,  Democrat.     The  campaign  was  one  of  great  personal 
bitterness.    Niles  declared  in  his  Register  that  if  the  hundredth 
part  of  what  had  been  said  about  the  two  candidates  was  true, 
both  of  them  should  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  life.     Jackson 
carried  the  day,  and,  with  John  C.  Calhoun  as  Vice  President, 
was  elected  by  a  large  majority,  the  electoral  vote  standing  178 
to  83  and  the  popular  vote  647,231  to  509,097. 

347.  Summary.    The    principal    events    of    President    Adams' 
administration  were:   (i)   the   impetus   given   to  the  making  of 
roads,  canals,  and  other  "internal  improvements"  by  the  national 
government ;   (2)  the  completion  and  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal 
by  the  state  of  New  York;  (3)  the  great  movement  of  population 
westward;   (4)  the   enactment   of   the  high   protective    tariff  of 
1828,  which  excited  the  violent  opposition  of  the  South. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  44,  45. 


336          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1829 

ANDREW  JACKSON  (DEMOCRAT),  Two  TERMS  (1829-1837) 

348.  The   West   comes   to   the   front;  Jackson's  election   and 
inauguration.    The  election  (§  346)  and  inauguration  of  the  new 
chief  magistrate   showed  that  a   political  revolution  had   taken 
place.     Every  one  of  the  seven  preceding  Presidents,  from  Jef 
ferson  to  John  Quincy  Adams  (1801—1829),  had  filled  the  orifice 
of  Secretary  of  State.    All  were  of  eastern  birth  and  had  been 
educated  at  college.     Now  the  rough,  self-willed,  strong-limbed 
pioneers  of  the  West  who  were  clearing  and  planting  the  wilder 
ness  beyond   the   Alleghenies   (§  339)   resolved   to   put   a   fresh 
man  at  the  helm.     The  masses,  for  the  first  time,  emphatically 
"  rejected  the  leadership  of  the  classes." 

They  felt  that  Jackson  was  one  of  themselves.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  Scotch-Irish  immigrant  (§§  52,  173),  and  was  born  in  a 
log  cabin  in  the  backwoods.  He  had  never  been  Secretary  of 
State,  but  the  people  of  the  West  believed  him  "  heir  apparent " 
(§  314)  to  the  presidency  by  right  of  nature.  They  put  him 
forward  to  break  up  the  routine  of  "  cabinet  succession,"  and  as 
their  chosen  representative  of  genuine  western  democracy. 

The  old  and  conservative  sections  of  the  country  had  been  fully 
represented  in  the  Executive ;  in  Jackson,  the  Indian  fighter,  the 
"  hero  of  New  Orleans,"  the  new  forces  at  work  in  America  were 
embodied  and  were  to  come  to  the  front.  Never  had  such  a 
multitude  been  seen  in  Washington  as  on  the  day  of  his  inaugu 
ration.  Men  stood  with  their  muddy  boots  on  the  satin-covered 
chairs  in  the  White  House  to  get  a  sight  of  the  President  of  their 
choice.  Eastern  men  looked  on  in  dismay,  and  Judge  Story 
wrote  home  that  "  the  reign  of  King  Mob  seemed  triumphant." 

349.  Removals    from  office.    More   than   twelve   years  before, 
Jackson  had  written  to  Monroe,  after  the  latter's  election  to  the 
presidency  (1817),  urging  him  not  to  remove  government  officers 
for  political  reasons.     He  said  then,  "  Now  is  the  time  to  exter 
minate  the  monster  called  party  spirit";  but  since  that  period  he 
had  changed.    He  entered  office  fully  convinced  that  he  had  once 


1829-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        337 

been  cheated  out  of  the  presidency  by  a  "  corrupt  bargain  "  (§  335). 
He  believed  that  "  bargain  "  had  deliberately  thwarted  the  will  of 
the  people  and  that  the  government  belonged  to  those  who  had 
elected  him.  The  editor  of  the  Washington  Telegraph,  the  organ 
of  the  new  administration,  declared  that  he  took  it  for  granted  that 
Jackson  would  "  reward  his  friends  and  punish  his  enemies." 

Jackson  himself  was  eager  to  begin  what  he  called  "  the  task 
of  reform."  He  was  convinced  that  Adams  and  Clay  had  filled 
the  public  offices  with  "babbling  politicians"  who  ought  to  be 
removed  for  the  good  of  the  country ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
Adams  had  kept  his  political  and  personal  enemies  in  office  and 
had  refused  to  give  places  to  his  friends  and  supporters. 

Jackson's  policy  anticipated  Senator  Marcy's  rule,  "  To  the 
victors  belong  the  spoils."  He  made  removals  by  wholesale,  and 
the  working  of  the  Crawford  Act  (§327)  helped  to  make  more 
vacancies.  At  Washington  the  distress  and  terror  of  the  "  ins  " 
was  only  matched  by  the  rapacity  of  the  "  outs."  In  the  first 
month  of  his  administration  Jackson  dismissed  more  men  from 
office  than  all  the  Presidents  who  had  preceded  him  (§  279). 
Before  the  close  of  the  first  year  not  less  than  two  thousand  office 
holders  had  been  replaced  by  adherents  of  the  new  Executive. 

350.  The  President  declares  the  removals  necessary;  the 
"Kitchen  Cabinet";  foreign  affairs.  The  President  believed 
that  these  changes  were  in  every  way  an  advantage.  He  declared 
that  unless  such  removals  were  regularly  made,  subordinate 
officials  would  "  acquire  a  habit  of  looking  with  indifference  upon 
the  public  interests,"  and  would  consider  their  positions  "as  a 
species  of  property."  Hence  he  earnestly  advocated  "  rotation," 
and  urged  Congress  to  extend  it.  Jefferson  and  Madison  had 
already  protested  against  the  introduction  of  this  system  when 
applied  to  clerks  in  departments.  Webster,  Calhoun,  Clay,  and 
Benton  added  their  remonstrances,  but  in  vain,  for  rotation  in 
office,  first  systematically  begun  by  the  Crawford  Act  (§327), 
now  became  firmly  established.  Through  it  the  "  spoils  system  " 
held  unbroken  sway  for  more  than  forty  years. 


338          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1830 

Unlike  his  predecessors,  Jackson  did  not  hold  cabinet  councils, 
but  depended  largely  on  the  suggestions  of  a  few  intimate  friends, 
who  were  popularly  known  as  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet."  Amos 
Kendall  of  Massachusetts,  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  with  a 
"  great  talent  for  silence  "  and  for  work,  was  the  leader  of  this 
influential  group. 

In  his  foreign  relations  Jackson  gained  two  signal  triumphs 
early  in  his  administration.  He  succeeded  in  negotiating  a  treaty 
with  Great  Britain  which  granted  us  the  long-coveted,  unre 
stricted,  direct  trade  with  the  West  Indies  (§§  265,  266,  342); 
and  he  induced  France  to  pay  us  25,000,000  francs  to  settle  our 
second  set  of  claims  for  spoliation  (§  270),  which,  in  this  case, 
Napoleon  had  committed  on  our  commerce  (§  295). 

351.  Webster's  reply  to  Hayne  on  state  sovereignty.  In  the 
first  Congress  which  met  under  Jackson,  Senator  Foot  of  Con 
necticut  proposed  (1830)  making  an  inquiry  respecting  the  sale 
of  government  lands.  His  resolution  led  unexpectedly  to  the 
"  great  debate  "  between  Webster  and  Hayne  on  the  nature  of 
the  Union.1  This  question  went  to  the  very  foundations  of  the 
government.  It  asked,  Did  the  Constitution  create  an  inde 
structible  nation,  or  did  it  simply  establish  a  league  beween  sover 
eign  states  which  may  be  broken  by  the  action  of  any  member  of 
that  league?  Such  a  discussion  necessarily  involved  an  inquiry 
into  the  right  of  nullification  and  disunion. 

Senator  Hayne  of  South  Carolina  spoke  in  the  interest  of  the 
league  theory  of  the  Constitution.  Addressing  Mr.  Calhoun,  the 
presiding  officer,  the  senator  said,  "  Sir,  I  am  one  of  those  who 
believe  that  the  very  life  of  our  system  is  the  independence  of  the 
states,  and  that  there  is  no  evil  more  to  be  deprecated  than  the  con 
solidation  of  the  government."  Webster  replied  :  "  Sir,  ...  I  am  a 
Unionist.  ...  I  would  strengthen  the  ties  that  hold  us  together." 

Hayne  rejoined  by  quoting  Jefferson's  declaration  that  "  sub 
mission  to  a  government  of  unlimited  power"  was  a  greater 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  46 ;  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I, 
233,  248;  Hart's  American  History  Leaflets,  No.  30. 


1830-1833]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    339 

calamity  than  "a  dissolution  of  the  Union."  He  furthermore 
contended  that  both  Jefferson  and  Madison  considered  the  Con 
stitution  to  be  simply  a  compact  made  between  sovereign  states. 
Finally,  referring  to  the  Kentucky  Resolutions  (§  273),  he 
insisted  that  in  case  Congress  violated  the  Constitution,  "  nullifi 
cation  "  by  the  sovereign  states  was,  according  to  Jefferson,  "  the 
rightful  remedy"  (§  273). 

The  next  day  the  Senate  chamber  was  packed  in  anticipation 
of  Webster's  reply.  On  the  morning  of  that  day  a  New  England 
senator  said  to  him,  "  It  is  a  critical  moment,  .  .  .  and  it  is  high 
time  that  the  people  of  this  country  should  know  what  the  Con 
stitution  is."  Webster  answered,  "  By  the  blessing  of  Heaven, 
they  shall  learn  this  day,  before  the  sun  goes  down,  what  I  under 
stand  it  to  be."  In  his  reply  Webster  reached  the  high-water 
mark  of  his  power  as  an  orator. 

He  argued  with  consummate  ability  that  the  Constitution  was 
not  a  compact  made  between  sovereign  states,  but  that  it  was  an 
indissoluble  government  "  made  for  the  people,  made  by  the 
people,  and  answerable  to  the  people."  The  effect  of  his  speech 
throughout  the  North  was  widespread,  deep,  and  permanent ; 
patriotism  had  a  new  birth,  and  thousands  were  made  to  feel 
that  the  American  Republic  rested  on  a  foundation  which  could 
not  be  shaken. 

A  few  months  later,  at  a  public  dinner  given  in  honor  of  Jeffer 
son's  birthday,  the  President  gave  the  significant  toast,  "  Our 
federal  Union  :  it  must  be  preserved."  Calhoun  responded  for 
the  South  with  the  sentiment,  "  Liberty  dearer  than  Union." 
Shortly  after  this  Jackson  and  Calhoun  ceased  to  hold  friendly 
relations  with  each  other.  They  represented  antagonistic  prin 
ciples  ;  the  President  upheld  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation,  the 
Vice  President  that  of  the  states.  After  Calhoun  returned  to  the 
Senate  he  offered  a  set  of  resolutions  (1833)  upholding  nullifica 
tion  and  secession  as  constitutional  rights.  That  doctrine  had 
never  before  been  openly  defended  in  the  upper  House.  Webste" 
replied  that  nullification  and  secession  meant  revolution,  and  thav 


340          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN  .  HISTORY         [isso- 

it  was  logically  impossible  to  derive  from  the  Constitution  the 
revolutionary  right  to  overthrow  it. 

352.  Rise  of  the  Abolitionists.  Congress  had  hoped  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  (§  324)  would  put  a  stop  to  the  discussion 
of  slavery ;  but  John  Randolph  of  Virginia,  who  was  himself  a 
slaveholder,  declared  it  impossible.  "  You  might  as  well,"  said 
he,  "  try  to  hide  a  volcano  in  full  eruption." 

Many  leading  southern  men  deplored  holding  human  beings  as 
property.  Roger  B.  Taney  of  Maryland,  later  appointed  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  said  of  slavery  that 
it  was  "a  blot  on  our  national  character,"  which  he  hoped  would 
in  time  be  "  wiped  away."  By  1826  more  than  a  hundred  anti- 
slavery  societies  existed  at  the  South,  or  nearly  three  times  as 
many  as  there  were  in  the  North.  They  advocated  gradual 
emancipation  and  colonization.  Although  in  1820  Henry  Clay, 
on  humanitarian  grounds,  had  earnestly  advocated  the  extension 
of  slavery  to  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  (§  322),  he  now 
(1827)  declared,  in  an  address  before  one  of  these  societies,  that 
slavery  was  "  the  deepest  stain  upon  the  character  of  our  coun 
try."  He  added  :  "  If  I  could  only  be  instrumental  in  ridding  of 
this  foul  blot  that  revered  state  which  gave  me  birth,  or  that  other 
not  less  beloved  state  which  kindly  adopted  me  as  her  son,  I 
would  not  exchange  the  proud  satisfaction  which  I  should  enjoy 
for  the  honor  of  all  the  triumphs  ever  decreed  to  the  most  suc 
cessful  conqueror." 

But  the  free  negro  was  literally  "a  man  without  a  country." 
The  South  wanted  to  get  rid  of  him ;  the  North  refused  to 
welcome  him,  and  with  very  few  exceptions  it  denied  him  the 
right  to  education  and  the  right  to  vote.  In  short,  the  free  black 
man  had  to  dwell  apart  like  the  leper  in  Israel.1 

No  one,  not  even  John  Quincy  Adams,  soon  to  become  the  great 
champion  of  the  antislavery  movement  in  Congress,  could  then 
point  out  a  remedy  for  the  evil  of  slavery.  The  truth  is  that  it  had 

!See  Gordy's  Political  History  of  the  United  States,  II,  ch.  xxii;  Thorpe's  Con 
stitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  I,  ch.  xii. 


1831-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        341 

grown  to  be  an  integral  part  of  the  social,  economic,  and  politi 
cal  life  of  the  South,  and  that  northern  manufacturers,  merchants, 
and  shipowners  had  directly  or  indirectly  helped  to  bring  about 
this  condition  of  things.  Dr.  Channing  fully  realized  this  when 
he  wrote  from  Boston  to  Daniel  Webster  (1828)  :  "  I  know  that 
our  Southern  brethren  interpret  every  word  from  this  region  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  as  an  expression  of  hostility.  ...  It  seems 
to  me  ...  we  ought  to  say  to  them  distinctly :  '  We  consider 
slavery  as  your*  calamity,  not  your  crime,  and  we  will  share  with 
you  the  burden  of  putting  an  end  to  it.  We  will  consent  that 
the  public  lands  shall  be  appropriated  to  this  object,  or  that  the 
general  government  shall  be  clothed  with  power  to  apply  a  por 
tion  of  revenue  to  it.'  ...  I  am  the  more  sensitive  on  this  sub 
ject  from  my  increased  solicitude  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union.  I  know  no  public  interest  so  important  as  this." 

353.  Garrison's  u  Liberator  "  ;  the  Nat  Turner  insurrection  ;  the 
American  Antislavery  Society.  Benjamin  Lundy,  in  his  paper, 
The  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation,  published  at  Baltimore, 
asked  that  the  negro  be  gradually  freed  and  colonized.  On  New 
Year's  Day,  1831,  William  Lloyd  Garrison  of  Boston  published 
the  first  number  of  the  Liberator.  He  demanded  "  immediate 
and  unconditional  emancipation."  His  editorial  was  a  war  cry. 
"  I  am  in  earnest,"  said  he ;  "I  will  not  equivocate  —  I  will  not 
excuse  —  I  will  not  retreat  a  single  inch  —  and  I  will  be  heard" 
His  words  opened  thirty  years  of  conflict,  which  were  to  end  in 
the  war  of  secession  and  in  the  downfall  of  slavery.  Garrison 
spared  neither  North  nor  South.  Speaking  of  New  England,  he 
said,  "  I  found  contempt  more  bitter,  opposition  more  active, 
detraction  more  relentless,  prejudice  more  stubborn,  and  apathy 
more  frozen  than  among  slave  owners  themselves."  Eventually, 
Dr.  Channing  (§  352)  came  over  to  Garrison's  position  and  put 
emancipation  before  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

That  summer  (1831)  Nat  Turner,  a  Virginia  slave,  headed  a 
negro  insurrection  in  which  more  than  sixty  whites  were  murdered. 
The  excitement  over  that  "  Bloody  Monday  "  was  terrible,  and 


342        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1832-1835 

Garrison  was  accused  of  having  stirred  up  the  insurrection  by  his 
articles  in  the  Liberator.  He  denied  that  he  countenanced  negro 
rebellion,  but  the  South  refused  to  believe  him,  and  the  state  of 
Georgia  offered  a  reward  of  $5000  for  his  seizure,  followed  by  his 
conviction  in  that  state.  This,  of  course,  was  offering  a  premium 
on  kidnapping.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Garrison  never  condemned 
slavery  in  stronger  terms  than  a  number  of  leading  Virginians  did 
in  discussing  the  Nat  Turner  insurrection  in  the  Legislature,  and 
in  demanding  that  measures  be  taken  for  gradual  emancipation. 

The  next  year  (1832)  the  New  England  Antislavery  Society 
was  organized,  and  the  year  following  (1833)  the  American  Anti- 
slavery  Society  came  into  existence  at  Philadelphia.  It  declared, 
"  Slavery  is  a  crime."  It  affirmed  that  all  slaves  "  ought  instantly 
to  be  set  free  "  ;  it,  however,  took  the  ground  that  Congress  had 
no  constitutional  right  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  southern 
states,  but  demanded  the  suppression  of  the  domestic  slave  trade 
and  the  abolition  of  negro  bondage  in  the  territories.  Finally,  the 
society  declared  that  the  people  of  the  free  states  were  under  the 
highest  obligations  "  to  remove  slavery  by  moral  and  political 
action,  as  prescribed  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
This  declaration  on  the  part  of  the  society  marks  an  era  in  Amer 
ican  history.  Within  less  than  nine  years  from  that  date  the  anti- 
slavery  organizations  in  the  free  states  numbered  two  thousand, 
with  a  membership  of  two  hundred  thousand. 

354.  Abolition  publications  destroyed;  Garrison  mobbed;  dis 
union  agitation.  The  excitement  at  the  South  over  northern  anti- 
slavery  publications  constantly  increased.  At  length  the  citizens 
of  Charleston  (1835)  broke  open  the  post  office  and  publicly 
burned  all  such  matter  found  in  the  mails.  A  bill  was  introduced 
in  Congress  to  exclude  this  inflammatory  material  in  the  future. 
Calhoun,  then  in  the  Senate,  declared  that  if  it  should  be  rejected, 
he  should  say  to  the  people  of  the  South  :  "  Look  to  yourselves ; 
you  have  nothing  to  hope  from  others."  The  bill  did  not  pass, 
and  the  commotion  in  both  sections  of  the  country  rose  to  a  still 
more  dangerous  pitch.  Garrison  was  assailed  in  Boston  (1835) 


1835-]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  343 

by  a  "  highly  respectable  "  mob.  Had  not  the  mayor  ordered  the 
police  to  lock  him  up  in  jail  for  safety,  the  mob  would  probably 
have  ducked  him  in  the  Frog  Pond  on  the  Common,  dyed  his 
face  and  hands  an  indelible  black,  and  then  given  him  a  coat  of 
tar  and  feathers. 

A  number  of  years  afterward  (1843)  the  Massachusetts  Anti- 
slavery  Society  resolved  that  the  Union  ought  to  be  immediately 
dissolved.  The  Liberator  later  came  out  with  two  standing  mot 
toes.  The  first  was  "No  union  with  slaveholders."  The  sec 
ond,  adopting  the  words  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  declared,  "  The 
United  States  Constitution  is  a  '  covenant  with  death '  and  an 
'  agreement  with  hell '  !  " 

By  this  time  a  number  of  leading  men  at  the  South,  who  had 
formerly  deplored  the  existence  of  African  bondage,  wheeled 
about  in  its  defense.  Clay  (1835)  denounced  the  Abolitionists, 
and  declared  that  "  two  hundred  years  of  legislation  have  sanc 
tioned  and  sanctified  negro  slaves  as  property."  Calhoun  had 
once  said  that  slavery  was  a  scaffolding  which  must  come  down. 
He  now  (1837)  denied  that  it  was  an  evil,  and  declared  that  it 
was  economically,  politically,  and  morally  "  a  good  —  a  positive 
good."  "  We  love  and  cherish  the  Union,"  said  he,  "  but  we  will 
not,  cannot,  permit  it  [slavery]  to  be  destroyed.  .  .  .  Should  it 
cost  every  drop  of  blood  and  every  cent  of  property,  we  must 
defend  ourselves." 

John  Quincy  Adams  had  written  several  years  before  (1833), 
"  Slavery  is,  in  all  -probability,  the  wedge  which  will  ultimately 
split  up  this  Union."  At  the  North  the  men  of  the  Garrison 
school  were  laboring  to  secure  a  separation;  at  the  South  there 
were  politicians  who  eagerly  welcomed  the  Abolition  agitation. 
They  found  in  it  an  effective  means  of  pushing  their  own  selfish 
schemes  at  the  risk  of  destroying  the  nation. 

Madison  feared  that  these  men  would  spur  the  South  to  enter 
upon  a  course,  of  which  the  first  step  would  be  "  nullification,  the 
next  secession,  and  the  last  a  farewell  separation."  It  was,  as 
Seward  later  declared,  the  beginning  of  an  "  irrepressible  conflict 


344          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1832 

between  opposing  and  enduring  forces."  On  the  part  of  the  North, 
Emerson,  who  was  no  fanatic,  did  not  hesitate  to  say,  "  Slavery 
is  not  an  institution,  but  a  destitution " ;  on  the  part  of  the 
South,  Governor  McDuffie  of  South  Carolina  boldly  proclaimed 
slavery  to  be  "  the  corner  stone  of  our  Republican  edifice."  l 

But  yet  there  were  great  numbers  who  refused  to  discuss  the 
question  of  slavery  in  any  form.  They  feared  the  agitation  might 
be  disastrous  to  the  country.  They  were  ready  to  sacrifice  the 
negro  for  the  sake  of  maintaining  political  peace  and  business 
prosperity. 

355.  The  new  tariff  (1832);  South  Carolina  nullifies  it.  While 
this  bitter  dispute  respecting  slavery  was  going  on,  the  discon 
tent  of  South  Carolina  over  the  protective  tariff  of  1828  (§  343) 
was  increasing.2  In  his  annual  message  of  1831  the  President 
recommended  Congress  to  reduce  the  rate  of  duties.  One  rea 
son  which  he  urged  for  adopting  this  policy  was  that  the  govern 
ment  would  soon  have  an  annual  surplus  of  about  $15,000,000. 
Clay  would  not  listen  to  any  change  in  his  favorite  "American 
system  "  3  (§§  314,  333),  and  vowed  that  he  would  defend  it  if  he 
had  to  defy  the  President,  the  South,  and  the  Evil  One.  Con 
gress,  however,  enacted  a  new  tariff  (1832),  which  practically 
put  back  duties  to  where  they  had  stood  in  1824  (§  333).  At 
the  same  time  the  duties  on  woolens  were  actually  raised,  and  the 
principle  of  protection  was  clearly  insisted  upon.4  Calhoun  urged 
South  Carolina  to  refuse  to  obey  the  law.  He  declared  that  peace 
able  resistance  was  entirely  "  consistent  with  the  federal  relations 
of  the  state."  He  argued  that  such  resistance  was  essentially 
different  from  secession,  and  that  instead  of  destroying  the  Union 
it  would  help  to  preserve  it.  He  gloried  in  his  advocacy  of  this 
measure,  and  said,  "  If  you  should  ask  me  the  word  that  I  should 
wish  engraven  on  my  tombstone,  it  is  '  NULLIFICATION.'  " 


1  See  Hart's  American  History  Leaflets,  No.  10. 

2  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  ch.  viii. 

3  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  202. 

4  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  183. 


1832]        THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        345 

The  crisis  soon  came.  South  Carolina  held  a  state  convention 
(1832)  and  adopted  an  ordinance  of  nullification  (§  273). *  It 
declared  (i)  the  tariffs  of  1828  and  1832  "null,  void,  and  no 
law,  nor  binding  upon  this  state,  its  officers,  or  citizens";  (2)  it 
refused  to  pay  any  duties  enjoined  by  those  tariffs  after  February 
i,  1833;  (3)  it  declared  that,  should  the  United  States  attempt 
to  compel  payment,  "the  people  of  this  state  will  forthwith 
proceed  to  organize  a  separate  government."  The  convention 
deduced  the  right  to  secede  from  the  nature  of  the  Constitution, 
which  they  asserted  was  a  compact  made  between  sovereign 
states  (§  247)  ;  what  they  had  freely  made  they  claimed  the 
power  to  freely  break.  This  action  was  strongly  resisted  by  a 
Union  Convention  of  South  Carolinians,  but  most  of  the  influen 
tial  men  in  the  state  were  on  the  side  of  nullification. 

Many  years  before,  Jackson  had  declared  that  he  would  "  die 
in  the  last  ditch  "  before  he  would  countenance  disunion.  In 
1831  he  had  indirectly  encouraged  nullification  by  the  course  he 
had  taken  respecting  Georgia  in  its  attitude  toward  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  (§  340).  But  he  now  (1832)  issued  a  proc 
lamation2  in  which  he  appealed  to  the  fellow-citizens  of  his 
"native  state  "  as  a  father  might  appeal  to  his  children.  But  he 
took  a  decided  stand.  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States," 
said  he,  "forms  a  government,  not  a  league."  "To  say  that  any 
state  may  at  pleasure  secede  from  the  Union  is  to  say  that  the 
United  States  are  not  a  nation."  He  added  :  "The  laws  of  the 
United  States  must  be  executed  .  .  .  disunion  by  armed  force 
is  treason"  J1  Jackson's  friends  hailed  him  as  "  the  second  savior 
of  his  country."  Congress  passed  a  "  Force  Act "  4  to  enable 
the  President  to  compel  obedience  to  the  tariff,  and  Jackson 
sent  a  sloop  of  war  to  Charleston  and  ordered  General  Scott  to 
collect  the  customs,  if  necessary,  by  military  force. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  53. 

2  Ibid.,  No.  55. 

3  See  Richardson's  Messages  of  the  Presidents,  II,  640-656. 

4  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  56 ;  Johnston's  American  Orations,  I, 
3°3- 


346          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1830- 

Meanwhile  Clay,  alarmed  at  the  outlook,  came  forward  as  a 
peacemaker  (§324).  He  introduced  a  Compromise  Tariff  J  which 
provided  for  a  gradual  reduction  of  duties.  He  now  said,  "  I 
wish  to  see  the  tariff  separated  from  politics."  Calhoun,  who  had 
resigned  the  vice  presidency  and  had  again  entered  the  Senate, 
voted  for  Clay's  bill.  In  anticipation  of  the  success  of  this 
measure,  South  Carolina  decided  not  to  resist  payment  of  duties 
under  the  existing  tariff.  The  Compromise  Tariff  was  enacted 
(1833),  and  South  Carolina  at  once  repealed  her  ordinance  of 
nullification.  Jackson  wrote,  "Nullification  is  dead";  but  he 
added :  "  The  tariff  .  .  .  was  a  mere  pretext  .  .  .  disunion  and  a 
Southern  Confederacy  [was]  the  real  object.  The  next  pretext 
will  be  the  negro  or  the  slavery  agitation." 

356.  Opening  of  the  first  American  railway  (1830).  The  steam 
boat  (§  286)  had  revolutionized  travel  and  transportation  on  the 
inland  waters  of  the  United  States,  and  had  greatly  helped  forward 
emigration  to  the  West.  Now  a  far  more  remarkable  revolution 
was  at  hand.  Stephenson,  the  English  inventor,  had  put  the  first 
really  successful  locomotive  on  the  tracks  of  the  first  railway 
opened  in  Great  Britain,  or  in  the  world.  The  "  steam  wagon  " 
promised  to  supersede  the  mail  coach  and  the  carrier's  cart. 

Late  in  the  summer  of  1830  fourteen  miles  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railway  were  opened.  It  was  the  first  road  of  the  kind 
in  America  which  was  constructed  for  the  express  purpose  of 
carrying  passengers  and  merchandise.  Peter  Cooper  of  New 
York  built  a  little  engine  called  the  "  Tom  Thumb,"  which  made 
its  trial  trip  from  Baltimore  to  Ellicott's  Mills.  The  first  Amer 
ican  locomotive  was  an  improvement  on  Stephenson's  "  Rocket," 
since,  by  reason  of  its  movable  truck,  it  could  go  safely  around 
sharp  curves.  At  that  time,  when  American  companies  had  not 
capital  to  tunnel  hills,  but  had  to  go  round  them,  this  improve 
ment  was  of  much  practical  importance.  It  settled  the  question 
in  favor  of  steam  over  horse  power.  Before  the  close  of  that  year 
(1830)  ground  had  been  broken  for  the  South  Carolina  Railway 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  185. 


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l  procure 
drough.  t 


Fare  will  be  reteivcd  at  each  of  the  above  places  io  toy  other  places 
named  en  the  route. 


From  an  Old  Time-table  (furnished  by  the  "A  B  C  Pathfinder  Railway  Guide"). 
By  permission  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  "  A  .  B.  C.  Pathfinder  Railway  Guide." 


The  above  Time-table  shows  that  the  rate  of  travel  by  express  trains  from  Albany  to 
Buffalo  in  j  843  was  less  than  thirteen  miles  an  hour. 

The  total  length  of  railway  operated  in  the  United  States  in  1843  was  but  a  little  over 
4000  miles. 

Up  to  1850  no  line  of  railway  had  been  built  as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi  River. 

The  180,000  miles  of  railway  now  in  operation  in  the  United  States  employ  an  army  of 
about  600,000  men  ;  financially  they  constitute  "  the  largest  single  interest  in  the  country." 


1830-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        347 

from  Charleston  to  Augusta,  a  distance  of  135  miles.  It  was 
opened  for  traffic  three  years  later.  It  was  the  longest  continu 
ous  line  of  railway  in  the  world,  and  was  the  first  to  carry  the 
United  States  mails. 

A  part  of  the  New  York  Central  Railway  was  opened  in 
1831,  and  was  followed  by  similar  roads  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Massachusetts.  But  the  progress  of  these  undertakings  was  slow. 
The  first  puff  of  the  locomotive  was  not  heard  in  Ohio  or  on  the 
prairies  of  Illinois  until  1838  ;  and  in  1840  the  total  number  of 
miles  of  railway  in  the  United  States  was  less  than  three  thou 
sand.  The  Mississippi  was  not  crossed  until  after  1850,  hence  it 
was  not  until  after  that  date  that  railways  began  to  have  their 
influence  on  the  far  West. 

The  railway  was  destined  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  unity  of 
the  states,  so  far  as  that  could  be  accomplished  by  material  means 
(§§  278,  286).  It  clamped  the  Republic  together  with  iron  bands, 
and  in  time  made  every  part  quickly  and  cheaply  accessible  to 
every  other.  From  an  economic  point  of  view  it  was  no  less 
important.  It  ultimately  reduced  the  expense  of  travel  to  one  fifth 
that  by  stagecoach,  and  it  cut  down  the  cost  of  transportation  by 
wagons  from  an  average  of  twenty  cents  a  ton  per  mile  to  less  than 
one  cent.  The  freight  traffic  of  the  United  States,  if  moved  by 
horses,  would  cost,  it  is  estimated,  more  in  a  single  year  than  all 
the  railways  of  the  country  have  required  for  their  construction. 

Finally,  the  railway  opened  new  lands  to  the  emigrant  and 
new  markets  for  his  produce.  It  developed  the  West  as  nothing 
else  could  have  done.  It  built  up  thriving  inland  cities  and 
towns  at  points  inaccessible  by  water ;  and  it  greatly  facilitated 
the  territorial  division  of  labor.  This  made  it  possible  for  each 
section  of  the  country  to  devote  its  energies  to  the  industry  it 
found  most  profitable,  —  coal,  cotton,  cattle,  wheat,  mining  for 
metals,  or  manufacturing.  In  1904  the  total  length  of  railways 
in  the  United  States  was  more  than  200,000  miles,  and  the  total 
capital  invested  exceeded  $12,000,000,000;  financially  speaking 
they  constitute  the  largest  single  interest  in  the  United  States. 


348          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1830- 

357.  Rise  of  modern  American  literature;  cheap  newspapers; 
the  steam  press.  The  two  pioneers  of  American  prose  and  poetry, 
Irving  and  Bryant,  had  made  themselves  a  name  before  Jackson 
entered  office.  Bryant's  "  Thanatopsis,"  published  (1816)  in  the 
North  American  Review,  then  in  the  second  year  of  its  existence, 
so  delighted  Wordsworth  that  he  learned  it  by  heart.  Sir  Walter 
Scott  was  equally  pleased  with  the  originality  and  humor  of 
Irving's  writings,  and  offered  him  a  handsome  salary  to  undertake 
the  editorship  of  a  magazine  in  Edinburgh. 

Seventeen  years  later  (i  833),  the  town  of  Peterboro,  New  Hamp 
shire,  established  the  first  free  public  library  in  America,  supported 
by  public  funds.  Fifteen  years  from  that  date  Massachusetts  laid 
a  tax  (1848),  to  establish  a  free  public  library  in  Boston.  This  is 
believed  to  have  been  the  beginning  of  such  legislation  in  any  part 
of  the  world.  To-day  there  are  several  thousand  such  libraries  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  number  is  steadily  increasing. 

Cooper,  the  first  American  novelist  who  found  readers  abroad, 
began  to  bring  out  his  stories  a  little  later,  while  Simms  was  work 
ing  in  like  manner  at  the  South.  Webster  published  the  first 
edition  of  his  American  dictionary  (1828)  just  before  Jackson's 
election ;  and  Whittier  began  to  write  his  New  England  ballads 
shortly  after  Jackson  entered  office.  He  was  followed  by  Long 
fellow,  Bancroft,  Holmes,  Poe,  Hawthorne,  and  Prescott ;  Lowell 
was  soon  to  make  his  appearance  in  the  same  field.  The  last 
year  of  Jackson's  second  administration  (1837)  was  rendered 
memorable  in  literature  by  Emerson's  Phi  Beta  Kappa  address 
on  the  "American  Scholar."  Holmes  hailed  it  as  our  "intel 
lectual  Declaration  of  Independence."  In  the  domain  of  Amer 
ican  jurisprudence  and  constitutional  law  the  works  of  Chancellor 
Kent  and  Chief  Justice  Story  stood  preeminent. 

A  little  earlier  (1833),  the  New  York  Sun,  the  first  perma 
nent  cheap  daily  paper,  appeared.  The  price  was  one  cent. 
This  meant  that  for  the  first  time  since  the  invention  of  printing 
the  poorest  laborer  could  afford  to  carry  home  the  news  of  the 
world  in  his  pocket. 


1830-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        349 

Later  (1847),  Hoe's  steam-cylinder  press  made  cheap  news 
papers  a  success  by  reducing  the  cost  of  publication  and  by  ren 
dering  it  possible  to  issue  enormous  editions  in  a  very  short  space 
of  time.  A  roll  of  paper  five  miles  in  length  can  now  be  printed 
on  both  sides  in  a  little  more  than  thirty-two  minutes. 

With  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  (1861)  a  great  change 
began  to  show  itself  in  the  character  of  many  of  the  daily  papers. 
From  that  time  we  may  date  the  exaggerated,  sensational,  and 
reckless  type  of  journalism  which  has  since  developed  into  a  power 
for  evil  that  is  a  positive  menace  to  civilization. 

358.  The  Black  Hawk  War ;  growth  of  the  West.    In  the  sum 
mer  of  1832  an  Indian  insurrection,  led  by  Black  Hawk,  broke 
out  in  Illinois  and  extended  to  parts  of  the  territory  now  com 
prised  in  Wisconsin  and  Iowa.     The  government  troops. gained 
an  easy  victory,  and  the  Indians  ceded  large  tracts  of  land  to 
secure  peace.     These  cessions  opened  new  fields  for  settlement 
in  the  rapidly  growing  West. 

Cincinnati  now  had  a  population  of  more  than  30,000,  and 
Buffalo  and  Detroit  gave  promise  of  becoming  important  cities. 
Chicago  was  a  pushing  little  trading  village  gathered  under  the 
protecting  guns  of  Fort  Dearborn  (§278).  St.  Louis  was  a 
frontier  settlement  which  carried  on  a  large  traffic  with  the  Mis 
souri  Indians ;  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  New  Orleans 
was  making  ready  to  contest  the  commercial  supremacy  of  the 
great  Atlantic  ports. 

359.  Beginning  of  the  war  against  the  United  States  Bank;1 
Jackson's  message.    When  Jackson  entered  office  the  Bank  of  the 
United   States  (§  314)  seemed  almost  as  solidly  established   as 
the  government  itself.     It  had  a  capital  of  about  $35,000,000; 
its  assets  were  fully  equal  to  its  liabilities ;    it  held  more  than 
$13,000,000  of  deposits;  and  it  issued  notes  to  the  amount  of 
over  $27,000,000,  which  were  considered  as  good  as  gold  not 
only  throughout  the  United   States  but  in  Europe.     The  head 
quarters  of  the  Bank  were  at  Philadelphia,  under  the  management 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  ch.  ix. 


350        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1829-1830 

of  Nicholas  Biddle,  president  of  the  institution,  and  it  had  twenty- 
five  branches  in  different  states. 

But  some  months  after  Jackson's  inauguration  two  of  his  most 
zealous  supporters,  both  New  Hampshire  men,  made  a  complaint 
against  the  Bank.  They  stated  that  the  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp 
shire,  branch  was  mismanaged.  Jeremiah  Mason,  the  head  of  that 
branch,  was  an  opponent  of  the  administration ;  he  was  accused 
of  political  favoritism  in  his  dealings  with  applicants  at  the  Bank, 
and  Secretary  Ingham,  of  the  United  States  Treasury,  wrote 
Nicholas  Biddle,  telling  him  of  these  complaints.  Biddle,  after 
investigating  the  matter,  replied  that  the  charges  were  groundless. 
He  declared  that  the  Bank  was  accountable  to  Congress,  but  to 
Congress  only.  "  The  board  of  directors,"  said  he,  "  acknowledge 
not  the^slightest  responsibility  of  any  description  whatsoever  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  touching  the  political  opinions  and  con 
duct  of  their  officers."  This  sharp  retort  provoked  retaliation. 

We  have  seen  (§  319)  that  the  action  of  the  Bank  in  1819 
had  stirred  up  powerful  enemies  against  it.  Its  charter,  however, 
would  not  expire  until  1836,  or  three  years  after  the  term  for 
which  Jackson  had  been  elected.  But  in  his  first  annual  message 
(1829)  the  President  said,1  "Both  the  constitutionality  and  the 
expediency  of  the  law  creating  this  Bank  are  well  questioned  by  a 
large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens"  (§  255).  He  next  charged 
the  Bank  with  having  "  failed  in  the  great  end  of  establishing  a 
uniform  and  sound  currency."  He  suggested  that  when  the  char 
ter  should  expire  it  might  be  thought  expedient  to  establish  a  new 
National  Bank  "  founded  upon  the  credit  of  the  government." 

360.  Congressional  reports  on  the  Bank.  A  Congressional  com 
mittee  reported  (1830)  that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  had  recognized  the  constitutionality  of  the  Bank  (§  319), 
and  that  it  had  proved  itself  a  useful  institution.  Concerning  the 
currency  of  the  Bank,  the  committee  reported  that  "  no  country 
in  the  world  has  a  circulating  medium  of  greater  uniformity  than 
the  United  States." 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  46. 


1830-1832]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    351 

Jackson  in  his  next  two  annual  messages  (1830,  1831)  again 
attacked  the  Bank.1  Senator  Benton  strongly  supported  the 
President.  Benton' s  hatred  of  bank  notes  and  love  of  gold  cur 
rency  had  got  for  him  the  title  of  "  Old  Bullion."  He  now  intro 
duced  a  resolution  against  rechartering  the  Bank.  The  following 
year  (1832)  a  new  Congressional  committee  examined  the  condi 
tion  of  the  institution.  The  majority  reported  against  its  methods 
of  transacting  business  ;  the  minority  defended  it.  John  Quincy 
Adams,  who  was  one  of  the  committee,  made  an  independent 
report.  He  criticised  some  of  the  Bank's  financial  methods,  but 
declared  that,  all  things  considered,  it  had  managed  its  affairs 
"  with  as  near  an  approach  to  perfect  wisdom  as  the  imperfection 
of  human  nature  permitted." 

361.  Jackson  vetoes  the  bill  to  recharter  the  Bank.  In  the  sum 
mer  of  1832  Congress  passed  a  bill  to  recharter  the  Bank.  The 
President  promptly  vetoed  it2  on  the  ground  that  some  of  the 
powers  of  the  institution  were  "  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution, 
subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  states,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberr 
ties  of  the  people."  He  furthermore  denounced  the  Bank  as  a 
"monopoly"  whose  stock  was  held  by  a  few  hundred  rich  men 
here  and  a  number  of  capitalists  abroad. 

The  existence  of  such  a  colossal  money  power,  with  its  enor 
mous  political  influence,  "might,"  he  said,  "make  us  tremble  for 
the  purity  of  our  elections  in  peace  and  for  the  independence  of 
our  country  in  war."  If  we  must  have  such  a  Bank,  said  he,  "  it 
should  be purely  American"  With  respect  to  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  recognizing  the  Bank  as  constitutional  (§  360), 
Jackson  said,  "  The  opinion  of  the  judges  has  no  more  authority 
over  Congress  than  the  opinion  of  Congress  has  over  the  judges ; 
and  on  that  point  the  President  is  independent  of  both." 

Webster  declared  that  if  the  veto  stood,  "  the  Constitution  had 
received  its  deathblow."  Clay  said  that  if  the  Bank  was  com-: 
pelled  to  call  in  its  loans  and  wind  up  its  business,  the  result 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  50,  51. 

2  Ibid.,  No.  52  ;  Mason's  Veto  Power,  32. 


352        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1832-1833 

would  be  "  widespread  ruin."  On  the  other  hand,  Benton  said, 
"  If  the  Bank  gains  the  day,  there  is  an  end  of  the  Republic  "; 
in  that  case,  he  added,  "  the  president  of  the  Bank  and  the 
President  of  the  United  States  will  elect  each  other."  The  veto 
triumphed  and  Jackson's  supporters  were  jubilant.  They  declared 
that,  now  that  "  Nick  Biddle's  bloated  corporation  "  had  received 
its  finishing  stroke,  the  people  would  get  plenty  of  Benton's 
"mint  drops"  and  Jackson's  "yellow  boys"  in  place  of  "Old 
Nick's  money"  and  "Clay's  rags." 

362.  The  presidential  election.    The  issue  at  the  election  (1832) 
was   the   question  whether  the    Bank   should   or  should   not  be 
rechartered.     Jackson  denounced  the  institution  as  a  dangerous 
political  machine  which  was  ready  to  use  its  power  to  set  up  or 
cast  down  Presidents.     Biddle  and  the  Clay  party  retorted  that 
Jackson  had  determined  to  make  himself  "  lord  and  master  of 
the  United  States,"  and  that  the  safety  of  the  country  demanded 
his  defeat  at  the  polls. 

The  candidates,  of  whom  Clay  and  Jackson  were  the  chief, 
were  all  nominated  (for  the  first  time)  by  national  conventions 
(§  335),  the  system  ever  since  in  force.  Clay  was  chosen  by  the 
National  Republicans  (§  341),  who  adopted  the  first  political 
platform  issued  by  such  a  convention.1  It  declared  that  "  an 
adequate  protection  to  American  industry  is  indispensable  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  country."  It  advocated  a  uniform  system  of 
"internal  improvements"  (§  337);  declared  that  "the  existence 
of  the  nation  "  depended  upon  the  preservation  of  the  authority 
and  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
(§  361),  and  denounced  the  "  spoils  system  "  (§  349)  as  "  corrupt 
ing  to  the  morals,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  this  country." 
Jackson,  who  was  the  choice  of  the  Democrats  (§  341),  was 
elected,  with  Martin  Van  Buren  as  Vice  President.  The  electoral 
vote  stood  219  to  49,  and  the  popular  vote,  687,502  to  530,189. 

363.  The  President  withdraws  the  deposits.    Jackson  began  his 
second  administration  (1833)  fully  resolved  to  destroy  the  power 

1  See  Stanwood's  The  Presidency,  ch.  xiii;  McKee's  Conventions,  27-33. 


183S-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        353 

of  the  United  States  Bank.  He  believed  that  it  had  used  its 
funds  to  prevent  his  election,  that  it  was  "  financially  rotten," 
and  that  the  government  deposits  in  it  were  no  longer  safe.  The 
House  voted  that  the  deposits  were  safe,  but  the  President 
replied,  "  The  Bank  is  broke,  and  Biddle  knows  it."  He  then 
proceeded  (1833)  "on  his  own  responsibility"  to  remove  the 
government  money,1  amounting  to  nearly  $10,000,000.  It  was 
gradually  withdrawn  in  the  regular  course  of  business  to  meet  the 
expenses  of  the  government.  At  the  same  time  Jackson  ordered 
all  deposits  of  public  money  to  be  made  henceforth  in  about  fifty 
state  banks,  which  the  opposition  dubbed  "pet  banks."2  The 
Senate  voted  that  the  President  had  violated  the  Constitution ; 
but  shortly  before  Jackson  left  office  Senator  Benton  (§  360)  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  the  record  of  the  vote  expunged.3 

The  removal  of  the  deposits,  or  rather  the  withholding  of  future 
deposits,  compelled  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  contract  its 
loans.  This  caused  "tight  money";  many  failures  resulted,  and 
"distress  delegations"  implored  the  President  for  relief.  The 
great  New  York  fire  (1835)  made  the  situation  worse  by  destroying 
property  worth  $20,000,000. 

364.  Increase  of  state  banks ;  an  epidemic  of  speculation ;  the 
"specie  circular";  distribution  of  the  "  surplus."  State  banks 
now  began  to  increase  at  a  rapid  rate.  Many  of  these  institutions 
were  simply  "wild-cat  banks"  (§319),  which  had  little  or  no 
capital,  and  issued  floods  of  worthless  paper.  Plenty  of  cheap 
money  stimulated  speculation.  In  the  course  of  two  years  enor 
mous  tracts  of  public  lands  were  purchased  ;  there  were  "  booms  " 
in  cotton,  in  timber,  in  real  estate  in  eastern  and  southern  cities, 
and  in  projected  western  towns. 

Between  1834  and  1836  the  government  land  sales  rose  from 
less  than  $5,000,000  to  nearly  $25,000,000.  Everybody  seemed 
to  be  getting  rich  at  railway  speed.  In  New  York  City  the 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  56-57. 

2  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  203,  209.     3  See  Johnston's 
American  Orations,  I,  320 ;  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  64,  68. 


354        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1833-1836 

assessed  valuation  rose  in  two  years  from'  $104,000,000  to 
$253,000,000,  while  in  Mobile  the  craze  for  speculation  was  so 
furious  that  property  estimated  in  1831  to  be  worth  under 
$1,300,000  was  six  years  later  rated  at  over  $27,000,000. 

The  President  became  alarmed  at  these  heavy  sales  of  govern 
ment  land  for  doubtful  paper.  After  giving  the  banks  ample 
time  to  make  preparations,  he  issued  (1836)  his  famous  "specie 
circular,"  which  required  purchasers  to  make  their  payments  in 
gold  and  silver.  Congress  passed  a  bill  to  annul  the  circular,  but 
the  President  vetoed  the  bill  just  before  he  left  office.  Specu 
lators  were  aghast  at  the  prospect.  The  financial  sky  grew  black 
with  the  gathering  storm.  The  banks  held  less  than  $38,000,000 
in  specie,  against  an  issue  of  $525,000,000  in  notes.  Very  few 
of  them  could  redeem  their  bills  in  coin.  The  result  was  suspen 
sion  of  payment  and  great  distress.  There  were  bread  riots  in 
New  York  and  threats  of  mob  violence  on  a  wide  scale ;  but  the 
tempest  did  not  strike  the  country  in  its  full  violence  until  after 
Jackson  had  retired  from  office  (§§  368-370). 

But  the  United  States  had  not  only  paid  off  every  dollar  of  the 
public  debt  but  had  actually  accumulated  a  large  surplus  in  the 
Treasury.  At  the  recommendation  of  the  President,  Congress 
passed  an  act  (1836)  ordering  that  the  surplus  which  should  be 
on  hand  at  the  beginning  of  1837  should  be  distributed  among  the 
states.1  It  was  styled  a  "deposit,"  but  it  was  practically  a  gift. 
Accordingly  the  government  paid  out  over  $28,000,000  (January 
to  July,  1837),  and  then  stopped  because  its  funds  were  exhausted. 
Some  states  divided  their  share  of  the  money  among  the  whole 
population,  each  person  getting  a  few  shillings ;  others  used  the 
money  to  begin  great  systems  of  roads,  canals,  and  similar  public 
improvements.  These  works  were  seldom  carried  to  completion, 
and  generally  ended  by  piling  up  a  heavy  state  debt.  A  few 
states  still  hold  and  use  the  income  of  the  money. 

365.  "  Pocket  vetoes  ";  antislavery  petitions  ;  the  "gag  rule." 
During  this  period  the  President  refused  to  sign  the  Maysville, 
1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  219. 


1836-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        355 

Kentucky,  Turnpike  Bill,  with  several  others,  for  "  internal  im 
provements  "  (§337).  He  believed  that  these  measures  were 
unconstitutional  because  they  were  local,  and  not,  in  any  true 
sense,  national  improvements,  and  that  they  tended  to  produce 
political  corruption.  Some  of  these  bills  were  sent  to  him  within 
ten  days  of  the  adjournment  of  Congress ;  the  Constitution 
(Appendix,  page  ix,  §  7)  gave  him  the  right  to  retain  them  until 
the  session  closed,  and  so  defeat  them.  He  did  retain  them,  and 
thus,  by  what  was  called  a  "pocket  veto,"  -  —  first  used  by  Madi 
son  t  —  he  effectually  checked  this  kind  of  legislation  for  the  time. 

Later,  many  persons  at  the  North  petitioned  Congress  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  On  motion  of  C.  C.  Pinckney, 
the  House  (1836)  passed  the  first  "gag  rule,"  which  laid  petitions 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  on  the  table,  thus  preventing  discus 
sion.  A  second  and  more  stringent  measure  was  passed  four 
years  later.  John  Quincy  Adams  vehemently  protested  (§  373), 
declaring  that  these  rules  violated  the  spirit  of  the  first  amendment 
of  the  Constitution  (Appendix,  page  xvi). 

366.  Important  inventions ;  the  presidential  election ;  new  states. 
Shortly  after  Jackson's  administration  began,  McCormick's  patent 
reaper  and  mower  (1834)  put  a  new  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
agriculturist  and  greatly  stimulated  the  rapid  development  of  the 
West.  Colt's  revolver  followed,  thus  introducing  (1835)  a  most 
effective  military  weapon,  which  made  itself  felt  in  the  Seminole 
and  the  Mexican  wars.  Gas  (1825)  had  been  in  use  for  some 
years,  and  the  friction  match  (1829)  now  generally  superseded 
the  bungling  flint  and  steel  (§  182). 

Ericsson's  screw  propeller  (1836)  was  destined  to  have  an 
immense  influence  on  ocean  navigation,  and  Nasmyth's  steam 
hammer  (1838)  gave  a  decided  impetus  to  the  iron  mills  of  both 
England  and  America.  Goodyear  was  experimenting  on  vulcan 
ized  rubber  and  was  soon  (1839)  to  take  out  his  patent  leading 
to  the  manufacture  of  waterproof  clothing.  Two  years  later 
(1841),  the  first  steam  fire  engine  made  its  appearance  in  New 
York ;  but  it  did  not  come  into  use  until  long  afterward. 


356        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1836-1837 

By  1835  the  National  Republicans  (§§341,  362)>  under  the 
leadership  of  Clay,  had  taken  the  name  of  Whigs.  They  were 
determined  to  put  an  end  to  the  "  reign  of  King  Andrew."  The 
Democrats  were  for  a  time  divided  into  two  factions,  —  the  reg 
ular  party  and  the  "  Locofocos,"  or  "  Reform  Democrats."  At 
the  presidential  election  (1836)  the  two  chief  candidates  were 
Martin  Van  Buren  (who  had  been  Secretary  of  State  under  Jack 
son),  and  General  Harrison  (§  297)  ;  the  former  was  nominated 
by  the  Democrats,  the  latter  by  the  Whigs.  Jackson  threw  the 
weight  of  his  powerful  influence  for  Van  Buren,  and  he  (with 
Richard  M.  Johnson,  Vice  President)  was  elected.  The  electoral 
vote  stood  170  to  73  (beside  5  i  scattering  votes),  and  the  popular 
vote  stood  761,549  to  a  total  (for  all  Whig  candidates)  of  736,656. 

The  admission  of  the  two  new  states  of  Arkansas  (1836)  and 
Michigan  (early  in  1837)  raised  the  whole  number  to  twenty-six. 

367.  Summary.    The  chief  political  events  of  Jackson's  admin 
istration  were  :  ( i )  the  establishment  of  rotation  in  office  and  the 
"  spoils   system "   on   a  national   scale ;   (2)   the   negotiation    of 
treaties  securing  unrestricted  direct  trade  with  the  West  Indies,  and 
the  payment  of  the  second  set  of  French  spoliation  claims  ;  (3)  the 
Webster  and  Hayne  debate  on  the  Constitution  ;  (4)  the  rise  of  the 
Abolitionists;  (5)  the  nullification  movement  in  South  Carolina; 
(6)  the  overthrow  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ;  (7)  the  issue 
of  the  "  specie  circular  ";  (8)  the  distribution  of  the  "  surplus." 

This  period  was  memorable,  too,  for  the  rise  of  the  Whigs ;  for 
the  opening  of  the  first  American  railway ;  for  the  introduction  of 
a  number  of  important  inventions  ;  for  the  development  of  Amer 
ican  literature  and  the  publication  of  the  first  cheap  newspaper. 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN  (DEMOCRAT),  ONE  TERM  (1837-1841) 

368.  Van  Buren's  inaugural  and  slavery;  financial  crash  and 
panic  (1837).    Van  Buren  came  in  as  the  intimate  personal  friend 
and  the  political  successor  of  Jackson.     All  preceding  Presidents 
had   carefully  avoided   the   exciting  subject  of  slavery  in   their 


1837J         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        357 

inaugurals,  but  Van  Buren  (§366)  spoke  directly  on  that  topic. 
He  said  :  "  I  must  go  into  the  presidential  chair  the  inflexible  and 
uncompromising  opponent  of  every  attempt  on  the  part  of  Con 
gress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  (§  365) 
against  the  wishes  of  the  slaveholding  states ;  and  also  with  a 
determination  to  resist  the  slightest  interference  with  it  in  the 
states  where  it  exists." 

John  Quincy  Adams,  the  first  great  antislavery  leader  in  Con 
gress,  had  just  declared  that  though  he  considered  it  his  duty  to 
continue  to  present  petitions  "  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  .the 
District  of  Columbia,"  yet  he  would  not  give  them  his  support. 
More  than  a  score  of  years  later  (1860),  the  Republican  party  and 
Charles  Sumner  explicitly  denied  that  Congress  had  the  right  "  to 
interfere  with  slavery  in  any  state."  President  Lincoln  in  his 
inaugural  (1861)  took  the  same  position. 

But  a  more  pressing  question  than  that  of  slavery  was  now 
demanding  solution.  In  his  farewell  address  President  Jackson 
said,  "  I  leave  this  great  people  prosperous  and  happy."  In  his 
inaugural  Van  Buren  said,  "  We  present  an  aggregate  of  human 
prosperity  surely  not  elsewhere  to  be  found."  Yet  at  the  very 
moment  when  he  uttered  these  confident  words  the  country  was 
on  the  verge  of  the  severest  financial  panic  it  had  ever  experi 
enced.1  Overtrading  and  reckless  land  speculation  (§  364)  had 
been  pushed  higher  and  higher  for  a  number  of  years.  Both  were 
in  large  degree  the  result  of  the  stimulus  given  to  western  settle 
ment  by  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  (§  338)  and  by  steamboat 
navigation  (§  286).  These  money-making  schemes  now  toppled 
over  with  a  crash. 

369.  Business  failures;  application  to  the  government  for  relief. 
In  the  spring  of  1837  a  large  cotton  firm  failed  in  New  Orleans; 
a  New  York  house  followed,  and  in  ten  days  the  failures  in  that 
city  amounted  to  $27,000,000.  Property  of  all  kinds  fell  rapidly 
in  value,  and  tracts  of  land  which  had  been  purchased  at  fabulous 
prices  could  not  be  sold  for  enough  to  pay  the  taxes.  Strange  to 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  ch.  x. 


358          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1837 

say,  the  country  was  actually  in  want  of  food.  Many  farmers  had 
neglected  cultivating  their  fields  in  the  hope  of  making  money 
by  speculation.  A  poor  harvest  diminished  the  yield  of  wheat 
and  com  still  further,  and  the  American  people,  with  millions 
of  acres  of  fertile  soil,  found  themselves  compelled  to  import 
breadstuffs  from  Europe.  All  the  necessaries  of  life  rose  in 
price,  and  there  was  great  distress  among  the  poor  in  New  York 
and  other  cities. 

A  committee  of  prominent  merchants  made  a  piteous  appeal  to 
the  President  for  help.  They  stated  that  the  losses  by  shrinkage 
of  real-estate  values  and  local  stocks  in  New  York  City  alone 
exceeded  $60,000,000.  Within  eight  weeks,  said  they,  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  large  business  houses  have  failed,  and  twenty  thou 
sand  laboring  men  are  parading  the  streets,  destitute  of  food, 
and  unable  to  find  work.  The  committee  believed,  with  Daniel 
Webster,  that  the  "  specie  circular  "  (§  364)  was  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  "  tight  money  "  and  of  the  general  distress. 

Van  Buren  expressed  his  sympathy,  but  declined  to  make  any 
change  in  this  respect.  He  was  convinced  that  the  "  specie  cir 
cular  "  was  not  the  real  cause  of  the  panic,  but  was  simply  the  pin 
which  had  pricked  the  bubble  of  speculation.  He  said,  in  sub 
stance,  that  instead  of  praying  to  the  government  for  aid,  men 
must  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  get  the  load  out  of  the 
slough,  and  so  find  that  "  Heaven  helps  those  "  —  and  those  only 
—  "who  help  themselves." 

370.  Bank  failures;  the  government  suspends  specie  payment; 
repudiation ;  causes  of  the  panic.  One  of  the  deposit  or  "  pet " 
banks  (§  363)  in  New  York  failed,  and  shortly  afterward  all  the 
other  banks  in  the  city  suspended  payment.  Those  elsewhere 
speedily  followed  their  example.1  Coin  now  disappeared  from 
circulation,  and  the  country  was  soon  flooded  with  all  kinds  of 
"  shinplaster  "  currency. 

The  suspension  of  the  deposit  banks  compelled  the  federal 
government  to  give  up  making  payments  in  gold  and  silver.  A 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  229. 


1837-1838]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    359 

number  of  states,  unable  to  raise  money  by  taxation,  repudiated 
the  interest  on  their  debts,  and  in  some  cases  refused  to  pay  the 
debts  themselves.  Later,  however,  these  states  resumed  pay 
ment,  either  partially  or  wholly ;  but  for  a  long  time  American 
credit  remained  at  a  very  low  point  indeed.  John  Quincy  Adams 
believed  that  the  distribution  of  the  treasury  surplus  of  $2 8,000- 
ooo  (§  364)  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  financial  distress.  He  said, 
"  We  present,  at  the  present  moment,  a  most  astonishing  and 
portentous  spectacle  to  the  world  —  without  a  dollar  of  national 
debt  we  are  in  the  midst  of  national  bankruptcy." 

Van  Buren  called  a  special  session  of  Congress  in  the  autumn 
of  1837  to  consider  what  action  should  be  taken  respecting  the 
deposit  of  the  government  funds.  He  attributed  the  panic  to 
four  causes  :  (i)  the  enormous  multiplication  of  banks  (§  364); 
(2)  the  borrowing  of  more  than  $30,000,000  of  foreign  money  by 
individual  states;  (3)  reckless  speculation  in  wild  lands  (§  364)  ; 
(4)  the  expenditure  of  vast  sums  in  "  ruinously  improvident " 
systems  of  "internal  improvements"  (§  364). 

By  the  spring  of  1838  the  sharpest  period  of  the.  panic  had 
passed,  but  the  next  year  there  was  a  partial  relapse  in  the  South, 
owing  to  the  sudden  fall  in  the  price  of  cotton  from  sixteen  cents 
to  five  cents  per  pound. 

371.  Van  Buren  proposes  the  independent  treasury  system; 
socialistic  experiments.  The  President  recommended  Congress  to 
abolish  the  system  of  depositing  the  government  money  in  state 
banks  and  to  establish  an  independent  treasury  system.1  He 
argued  that  if  the  government  deposited  its  revenues  in  its  own 
vaults,  the  money  would  not  only  be  absolutely  safe,  but  it  could 
not  be  used  for  speculation  or  for  political  purposes.  A  majority 
in  Congress  nicknamed  the  President's  recommendation  "  The 
Divorce  Bill,"  and  refused  to  consider  it;  but  later  (1840)  they 
adopted  it.  The  act  establishing  the  independent  treasury  system 
was,  however,  very  soon  repealed  (1841),  but  was  reenacted  some 
years  later  (1846)  as  it  stands  to-day  (§  404). 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  235. 


360        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1837-1838 

The  hard  winter  of  1837-1838  bore  fruit,  however,  in  other 
ways.  Horace  Greeley  wrote  a  series  of  articles  on  "  What  shall 
be  done  for  the  Laborer?  "  This  led  to  the  suggestion  of  the  estab 
lishment  of  communal  farms,  to  be  cultivated  by  the  cooperation  of 
several  hundred  families.  The  Shakers  and  the  Rappites  were  suc 
cessful  examples  of  such  communities.  They,  however,  had  been 
established  on  a  religious  basis,  while  Greeley  and  other  thinkers 
proposed  to  make  their  experiments  industrial  and  educational. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years  several  such  communities  were 
started.  One  of  the  most  noted  of  these  was  that  at  "  Brook 
Farm,"  near  Boston.  It  was  begun  by  an  exceptionally  intelli 
gent  and  earnest  band  of  men  and  women.  They  believed  that 
by  honest,  well-directed,  harmonious  labor  they  could  succeed  in 
showing  the  world  the  advantages  of  cooperative  industry  joined 
to  "  plain  living  and  high  thinking."  Like  most  of  these  well- 
meant  projects,  "Brook  Farm"  attracted  its  full  proportion  of 
"  dreamers  and  schemers,"  and  the  pressure  of  untoward  circum 
stances  soon  put  an  end  to  what  Emerson  called  an  attempt  to 
organize  ",a  perpetual  picnic."  Some  of  the  purely  industrial 
communities  founded  about  the  same  time  still  flourish. 

372 .  The  Mormons  found  Nauvoo ;  Millerism  and  Spiritualism. 
During  the  second  half  of  Van  Buren's  administration  the  Mor 
mons,  or  "  Latter  Day  Saints,"  attracted  much  attention  in  the 
West.1  The  founder  of  the  organization  was  Joseph  Smith,  a 
native  of  Vermont,  who  had  in  early  life  removed  to  western 
New  York.  He  declared  that  an  angel  appeared  to  him  (1827) 
and  directed  him  where  to  dig  up  a  remarkable  volume  called  the 
"  Book  of  Mormon."  Smith  and  his  followers  regarded  this  book 
as  a  special  divine  revelation  made  to  the  people  of  America. 
They  believed  that  its  authority  was  equal  to  that  of  the  Bible, 
and  that  it  was  a  necessary  supplement  to  the  Christian  gospels. 
Smith  proclaimed  himself  the  "  Prophet "  of  the  new  religion. 
He  made  a  number  of  new  converts  and  planted  missions  in 
Ohio  and  Missouri. 

1  See  H.  H.  Bancroft's  Utah,  71-690;  Linn's  History  of  the  Mormons. 


1840-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        361 

Subsequently  the  "  Latter  Day  Saints  "  were  driven  out  of  these 
states ;  they  then  settled  in  Illinois.  There  they  obtained  an 
unusually  liberal  charter,  and  founded  (1840)  the  "sacred  city" 
of  Nauvoo  on  a  bend  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  population  of 
Nauvoo  eventually  reached  about  fifteen  thousand.  This  made 
it  the  largest  city  in  the  state. 

Smith  was  the  supreme  head  of  the  church  and  of  the  civil  and 
military  power  of  this  flourishing  community,  which  was  noted  for 
its  industry,  temperance,  and  thrift.  As  head  of  the  Mormon 
corporation  he  could  marshal  an  army  of  trained  militia  some  four 
thousand  strong,  and  another  and  still  larger  army  of  voters  who 
cast  a  solid  ballot.  Governor  Ford  said  that  without  their  aid 
no  one  could  hope  to  get  office.  Political  opponents  accused 
them  of  plotting  to  obtain  control  of  the  state.  They  asserted 
that  when  the  followers  of  Smith  had  acquired  sufficient  strength, 
they  would  drive  the  "Gentile  "  inhabitants  out  of  Illinois  as  the 
"  Children  of  Israel "  drove  the  heathen  out  of  Canaan. 

The  Mormon  leader  professed  to  make  the  example  of  the 
Hebrew  patriarchs  his  guide  in  many  things.  He  now  (1843) 
declared  that  he  had  received  a  new  revelation  from  heaven 
respecting  marriage.  This  revelation  recommended  the  establish 
ment  of  polygamy,  though  the  formal,  public  declaration  of  the 
doctrine  was  not  made  until  1852.  Shortly  after  this  several  of  the 
"  Saints,"  who  had  either  seceded  from  the  Mormon  body  or  had 
been  expelled  from  it,  began  the  publication  of  a  paper  in  Nauvoo 
in  which  they  boldly  accused  the  "Prophet"  of  leading  a  profligate 
life.  The  Mormon  authorities  at  once  broke  up  the  paper,  and 
the  publishers  fled  to  Carthage.  Smith  at  first  defied  the  officers 
of  the  law  sent  to  arrest  him,  but  finally  gave  himself  up  and  was 
carried  to  Carthage  and  imprisoned.  The  report  got  about  that 
Governor  Ford  intended  to  discharge  him  without  a  trial ;  a  mob 
collected,  attacked  the  jail,  and  shot  the  "  Prophet"  (1844). 

After  Smith's  death  Brigham  Young,  one  of  the  "  Twelve  Apos 
tles  "  of  the  "  Latter  Day  Saints,"  became  their  leader.  The  feeling 
in  Illinois  continued  to  grow  more  and  more  bitter  against  the 


362          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1840- 

Mormons,  who  then  numbered  about  twenty  thousand.  Their 
peculiar  religious  teachings  and  their  political  power  roused  the 
fear  and  hatred  of  the  "  Gentiles."  They  were  forced  (1846)  to 
abandon  Nauvoo.  Under  the  leadership  of  Brigham  Young  they 
crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  then  the  western  boundary  of  the 
United  States,  south  of  the  "  Oregon  Country,"  and  settled  (1847) 
on  Mexican  soil  in  what  is  now  Utah. 

There,  in  the  midst  of  an  alkali  desert  where  rain  rarely  fell, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  —  the  American  Dead 
Sea,  —  they  began  to  erect  their  new  Zion.  The  Mormons  dug 
trenches  which  brought  an  ample  supply  of  water  from  the  moun 
tains.  In  this  way,  starting  with  no  capital  but  their  hands,  they 
transformed  the  desolate  wilderness  into  a  garden  and  made  the 
desert  "  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose."  Later,  many  non- 
Mormons  were  attracted  to  Utah. 

About  the  time  that  Mormonism  was  exerting  its  influence  in 
Illinois,  William  Miller  made  an  address  in  New  York  state, 
declaring  (1843)  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand.  He 
readily  found  listeners  to  his  teachings,  and  some  enthusiastic 
followers  stopped  doing  business,  gave  away  their  property,  and 
prepared  to  leave  the  earth.  In  New  York  state  a  few  years 
later  (1848),  certain  mysterious  rappings,  known  as  the  "  Roch 
ester  knockings,"  began  to  attract  attention  in  that  city.  They 
were  produced  through  the  agency  or  "  mediumship  "  of  the  Fox 
sisters.  These  rappings  gave  rise  to  the  widespread  movement 
known  as  modern  Spiritualism. 

373.  Slavery  agitation  in  Congress;  the  second  Seminole  War; 
the  "Caroline"  affair.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  "gag 
rule  "  prevailed  in  Congress  (§  365),  there  was  intense  excitement 
in  that  body  over  slavery.  Lovejoy,  the  editor  of  an  antislavery 
paper  in  Alton,  Illinois,  was  shot  in  a  riot  (1837)  while  defending 
his  printing  office.  His  death  gave  fresh  impetus  to  the  abolition 
movement  in  New  England,  and  added  Wendell  Phillips l  to  the 
Garrisonian  ranks  (§  353). 

l  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  II,  102. 


1837-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        363 

Calhoun  (1837)  offered  a  series  of  six  resolutions  in  the  United 
States  Senate1  on  the  subject  of  the  relations  of  the  federal 
government  to  slavery.  In  the  fifth  resolution  he  declared  that 
any  "  intermeddling  "  with  slavery  by  the  states  or  by  Congress  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  or  in  the  territories,  under  the  pretext 
that  "  it  is  immoral  or  sinful,"  would  be  a  "direct  and  dangerous 
attack"  on  southern  institutions.  Clay  offered  two  amendments  : 
the  first  slightly  changed  the  wording  of  Calhoun's  resolution  in 
regard  to  the  interference  with  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia ; 
the  second  declared  that  the  people  of  any  territory,  when  it  should 
be  admitted  as  a  state,  should  decide  the  question  "  exclusively 
for  themselves  "  whether  they  would  or  would  not  have  slavery. 
This  was  the  first  "  popular  sovereignty  "  measure  on  record. 

The  resolutions  were  then  adopted  by  a  large  majority.  In 
the  House,  John  Quincy  Adams  continued  to  offer  (§  365)  peti 
tions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  for  various  other  objects.  In  a 
single  day  he  presented  several  hundred  such  papers.  In  one 
instance  he  offered  a  petition  which  professed  to  come  from  a 
number  of  slaves.  The  excitement  became  almost  a  riot ;  the 
House  echoed  with  cries  of  "  Order  !  order  !  "  and  members 
crowded  around  Mr.  Adams  shouting,  "  Expel  him  !  expel  him  !  " 
After  the  tumult  had  somewhat  subsided  Mr.  Adams  dryly 
explained  that  in  this  case  the  slaves  had  petitioned  against 
abolition,  not  for  it.  He  continued  to  fight  against  the  "  gag 
rules  "  (§  365)  session  after  session,  until  finally  after  eight  years 
of  battle  he  succeeded  in  getting  them  rescinded  (1844).  Four 
years  later,  the  indomitable  old  man  died  at  his  post  saying, 
"This  is  the  last  of  earth,  I  am  content." 

The  Seminole  War  which  had  begun  (1817)  under  Monroe 
(§  317)  broke  out  anew  under  Van  Buren.  Osceola,  chief  of  the 
tribe,  visited  the  American  camp  under  promise  of  safety;  but 
he  was  thrown  into  prison  and  detained  until  his  death  (1838). 
This  caused  the  outbreak.  Colonel  Zachary  Taylor  defeated  the 
1  See  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  II,  135. 


364          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1837- 

Indians  in  a  decisive  battle,  but  the  war  dragged  on  in  the 
swamps  of  southern  Florida  for  several  years  longer.  At  length, 
after  having  spent  more  than  $20,000,000,  or  four  times  what 
we  originally  paid  for  the  Florida  territory,  the  Indians  were 
compelled  to  move  to  the  far  West  (1842). 

In  1837  a  singular  affair  threatened  to  embroil  the  United 
States  with  England.  In  an  insurrection  in  Toronto,  Canada, 
a  number  of  the  rebels,  who  had  fled  to  the  United  States, 
made  use  of  the  American  steamboat  Caroline  to  carry  on  their 
projects.  A  party  of  loyal  Canadians  crossed  the  Niagara  River 
and  burned  the  boat ;  in  the  affray  several  persons  were  killed. 
This  invasion  caused  intense  excitement.  While  it  was  at  its 
height  a  British  subject,  named  McLeod,  boasted  that  he  was  one 
of  the  attacking  party.  As  he  was  then  on  the  soil  of  New  York, 
he  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison.  The  English  govern 
ment  demanded  his  immediate  release,  and  the  London  papers 
were  filled  with  threats  of  war.  We  explained  that  under  our 
Constitution  the  United  States  could  not  take  the  case  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  state  of  New  York.  The  affair  began  to  look  very 
serious ;  but  luckily  the  trial  of  McLeod  (1842)  resulted  in  prov 
ing  that  the  braggart  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Caroline.  This  settled  an  international  question. 

374.  Harnden's  express;  the  daguerreotype ;  ocean  steamship 
lines  established  ;  immigration.  In  1839  W.  F.  Harnden  of  Mas 
sachusetts  began  the  business  of  carrying  parcels  in  a  handbag 
between  Boston  and  New  York  City.  In  this  humble  way  he 
founded  the  American  express  system,  the  most  perfect  of  its 
kind  in  the  world.  It  now  extends  to  every  town  in  the  United 
States,  employs  a  capital  amounting  to  some  scores  of  millions, 
and  keeps  an  army  of  men  busy  day  and  night. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  (1839)  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse, 
then  in  New  York,  took  the  first  American  photograph.  He  con 
structed  his  apparatus  by  means  of  drawings  which  Daguerre,  the 
inventor  of  the  process,  sent  him  from  France,  and  succeeded  in 
greatly  reducing  the  time  required  for  taking  a  picture. 


1838-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEAgH.G^MENT        365 

We  have  seen  that  the  first  American  ocean  steamship  crossed 
the  Atlantic  in  1819  (§  319).  Nearly  twenty  years  elapsed  before 
the  experiment  was  again  tried ;  then  two  English  steamers,  the 
Sinus  and  the  Great  Western,  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  same 
day  (1838).  Two  years  later  (1840),  Samuel  Cunard,  the  son  of 
a  Philadelphia  merchant,  established  the  first  regular  line  between 
England  and  America,  by  sending  the  Britannia  from  Liverpool 
to  Boston.  The  Cunard  Company  soon  put  on  a  second  regular 
line  to  New  York. 

By  means  of  fast  packets,  and  later  by  steamers,  immense  num 
bers  of  immigrants  soon  began  to  pour  into  our  ports  (§  339). 
The  terrible  famine  in  Ireland  (1845-1846),  political  troubles  on 
the  continent,  and  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  (1848) 
greatly  stimulated  this  influx  of  settlers.  In  ten  years  (1840- 
1850)  the  number  of  arrivals  averaged  nearly  four  thousand  a 
week.  The  greatest  number  came  from  Ireland ;  Germany 
ranked  next,  then  England,  and,  last  of  all,  France  and  the  other 
countries  of  Europe.  The  total  number  of  immigrants  that 
arrived  from  the  close  of  the  Revolution  to  1904  was  upwards  of 
22,000,000.  A  large  proportion  of  the  foreigners  now  coming 
are  Italians,  and  Russian  and  Polish  Jews. 

The  immigrants  of  the  earlier  period  were  generally  young  men 
and  women,  full  of  vigor,  who  came  here  eager  to  grapple  with 
the  western  wilderness.  Their  labor  developed  the  resources  of 
the  country  and  enormously  increased  its  wealth  and  prosperity. 
They  rarely  went  South,  where  free  labor  was  not  wanted ;  they 
generally  voted  the  Democratic  ticket,  but  had  no  interest  in  the 
extension  of  slavery  ;  they  knew  nothing  of  the  doctrine  of  "  state 
sovereignty,"  and  gave  their  influence  and  their  ballots  to  the 
cause  of  the  Union. 

*  On  the  other  hand,  this  immigration  often  indirectly  encour 
aged  the  municipal  corruption  which  has  disgraced  so  many  of 
our  city  governments.  Recently  many  important  reforms  have 
been  effected  in  this  respect,  and  the  prospects  indicate  that  the 
improvement  may  continue. 


366          THE   STUQENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1840 

375.  The  presidential  election  of  1840;  the  "  log-cabin  and  hard- 
cider  campaign."  The  party  which  happens  to  be  in  power  dur 
ing  a  period  of  business  and  financial  depression  is  sure  to  have 
much  of  the  blame  for  "  hard  times  "  cast  upon  it.  The  Whigs 
believed  Van  Buren  and  his  supporters  were  responsible  for  the 
panic  of  1837  (§  369),  and  nominated  William  Henry  Harrison 
for  President,  with  John  Tyler  of  Virginia  as  Vice  President ;  the 
Democrats  renominated  Van  Buren.  They  alone  adopted  a  plat 
form.  It  emphatically  condemned  any  interference  by  Congress 
with  slavery  as  dangerous  to  the  stability  of  the  Union.  The 
Abolitionists,  or  Liberty  party,  now  for  the  first  time  appeared 
in  national  politics,  and  nominated  James  G.  Birney,  one  of  their 
leading  men,  for  the  presidency.  But  the  strict  Garrisonian 
Abolitionists  (§§  353,  354)  refused  to  act  with  the  Liberty  party; 
in  fact,  they  would  not  cast  a  vote  at  the  election. 

Harrison,  the  "old  hero  of  Tippecanoe  "  (§  297),  was  then 
living  in  a  very  humble  way  on  a  small  farm  in  southern  Ohio. 
An  opposition  journal  ridiculed  the  idea  of  an  attempt  to  make 
such  a  man  the  head  of  the  nation.  "  Give  him  a  log  cabin 
and  a  barrel  of  hard  cider,"  said  the  editor,  "and  he  will  stay 
content  in  Ohio."  The  Whigs  found  their  rallying  cry  in  these 
words,  and  at  once  set  up  a  great  shout  for  "  the  log-cabin  can 
didate." 

Then  began  the  most  exciting  political  campaign  the  country 
had  ever  seen.1  Clay,  Webster,  Everett,  and  Choate  "  took  the 
stump  "  for  "Harrison  and  Reform."  The  Whigs  held  gigantic 
mass  meetings  and  marched  in  processions  miles  long.  Every 
where  one  saw  log  cabins,  barrels  of  hard  cider,  and  live  coons ; 
the  whole  country  rang  with  the  rousing  chorus  of  "Tippecanoe 
and  Tyler  too."  Harrison  spoke  to  "ten  acres  of  people"  at 
Dayton,  Ohio,  and  pledged  himself,  if  elected,  "  to  abridge  the 
power  and  influence  of  the  national  Executive."  For  the  first 
time  in  forty  years  the  Democrats  were  beaten,  and  Harrison  and 
Tyler  were  elected. 

i  See  McMaster  in  the  Cambridge  United  States,  388. 


1840-1841]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    367 

Before  the  campaign  Harrison  had  not  clearly  identified  him 
self  with  either  the  Whigs  or  the  Democrats.  Tyler  had  been 
a  "strict  constructionist "  (§256)  and  a  Calhoun  Democrat, 
strongly  favoring  "state  rights,"  or  "state  sovereignty."  It  was 
believed,  however,  that  he  would  throw  his  influence  on  the  Whig 
side  ;  his  nomination  was  made  as  a  bid  for  southern  votes.  The 
electoral  vote  stood  234  to  60;  the  popular  vote,  1,275,017  to 
1,128,702. 

376.  Summary.  Van  Buren's  administration  began  clouded  by 
a  disastrous  panic  which  involved  the  whole  country  in  ruinous 
loss.  Through  the  President's  earnest  efforts  Congress  adopted 
the  "  independent  treasury  system,"  but  it  was  not  permanently 
established  until  after  he  left  office. 

The  Mormons  made  a  strong  settlement  in  Illinois,  and  when 
expelled  from  that  state  they  emigrated  to  Salt  Lake  Valley  in  the 
Mexican  territory,  which  is  now  the  state  of  Utah. 

The  establishment  of  regular  lines  of  ocean  steamers  and  fast 
packets  tended  to  encourage  immigration  and  had  an  important 
influence  on  the  West  and  on  national  politics. 

The  second  Seminole  War  and  the  Caroline  affair  were  also 
important  features  of  this  period. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON  (WHIG),  ONE  TERM 
(1841-1845) 

377.  Harrison's  death ;  Tyler's  succession.  General  Harrison 
(§  375)  was  an  old  man  when  he  entered  office.  The  excitement 
of  the  campaign,  Clay's  dictatorial  ways,  and  the  persistent 
demands  of  crowds  of  greedy  office  seekers  proved  too  much  for 
his  failing  strength ;  a  month  after  his  inauguration  the  President 
lay  dead  in  the  White  House.  The  whole  country  was  startled, 
for  his  death  raised  Tyler  to  the  presidency.  Such  an  event  had 
never  occurred  before,  and  Tyler's  political  principles  (§375) 
were  very  different  from  those  which  Harrison  had  held. 


368          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [mi 

In  their  fancied  security  the  people  had  jocosely  dubbed  the 
Vice  President  "  His  Superfluous  Excellency."  Congress  hesi 
tated  what  title  to  give  Mr.  Tyler,  but  he  promptly  informed  them 
that  he  was  now  President  of  the  United  States  "  by  the  Consti 
tution,  by  election,  and  by  the  hand  of  God." 

378.  Tyler  vetoes  the  "Fiscal  Bank"  Bill.  The  first  move 
made  by  the  Whigs  was  to  repeal  the  Independent  Treasury  Act 
(§  371),  and  to  attempt  to  pass  a  bill  reviving  the  National  Bank 
(§  359)  under  the  name  of  the  "Fiscal  Bank  of  the  United 
States."  The  President  vetoed  the  bill  (1841)  on  the  ground  of 
unconstitutionality,  since  it  granted  the  Bank  the  right  to  estab 
lish  branches  in  various  states  without  asking  their  consent.1 
Congress  then  prepared  a  new  bill,  which  the  President  vetoed 
(1841)  on  substantially  the  same  grounds  that  he  had  the  first. 

This  second  veto  roused  a  storm  of  denunciation.  Every  mem 
ber  of  the  Cabinet,  except  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State, 
promptly  resigned.  Tyler  then  recommended  the  establishment 
of  what  he  called  the  Exchequer  Bank.  Webster  highly  com 
mended  it,  but  Congress  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The 
majority  of  the  Whigs  in  both  Houses  united  in  an  address  to 
the  people,  in  which  they  declared  (1841)  that  "  the  President  .  .  . 
has  voluntarily  separated  himself  from  those  by  whose  exertions 
and  suffrages  he  was  elevated  to  that  office."  They  closed  their 
address  by  protesting  against  the  attempt  of  "one  man"  to 
control  "  the  will  of  the  nation."  Later,  a  House  committee, 
with  John  Quincy  Adams  as  chairman,  charged  the  President 
with  having  "  strangled  legislation  of  vital  importance  by  the  five 
times  repeated  stricture  of  the  Executive  cord." 

The  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  held  a  meeting  at  which  they 
resolved  that  "  all  political  connection  between  them  and  John 
Tyler  was  at  an  end  from  that  day  forth."  In  future  only  a  few 
members  of  Congress,  nicknamed  the  "  Corporal's  guard,"  upheld 
the  President.  The  "  Locofocos  "  (§  366)  would  not  stand  by  him, 

iSee  Mason's  Veto  Power,  76-78;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United 
States,  241-243. 


1841-1842]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT     369 

and  the  Whigs  hated  him.  The  deadlock  between  him  and  the 
Whigs  was  not  broken  until  just  as  he  was  leaving  office,  and  the 
policy  of  the  administration  throughout  was  virtually  Democratic. 

379.  The  "Dorr  rebellion";  the  "anti-renters."  Meanwhile 
a  controversy  over  a  change  in  the  state  constitution  in  Rhode 
Island  threatened  to  end  in  civil  war.  Under  its  ancient  charter 
the  right  of  suffrage  in  that  state  was  limited  to  landowners 
(holding  an  estate  valued  at  not  less  than  $134)  and  to  their 
eldest  sons. 

This  provision  now  caused  great  inequality  of  representation. 
Newport  had  six  members  in  the  Legislature,  while  the  city  of 
Providence,  with  a  population  nearly  three  times  larger,  had  only 
four.  Repeated  efforts  had  been  made  to  remedy  this  inequality, 
but  without  effect.  In  1841  a  popular  convention,  or  mass  meet 
ing,  framed  the  "  People's  Constitution  "  ;  it  established  universal 
suffrage  and  equal  representation.  A  little  later  (1842),  the  Legis 
lature  summoned  a  convention  which  adopted  the  "  Landholder's 
Constitution";  it  made  universal  suffrage  the  rule  for  all  natives 
of  the  state,  but  withheld~that  right  from  naturalized  citizens 
unless  they  owned  landed  property. 

Both  constitutions  were  submitted  to  popular  vote ;  the 
"  People's  "  was  accepted,  the  "  Landholder's  "  rejected.  The 
Legislature  believed  that  the  victory  had  been  gained  by  fraud 
and  forbade  the  Free  Suffrage  party  putting  the  new  constitution 
in  force.  The  Fiee  Suffragists  paid  no  attention  to  this  pro 
hibition  and  elected  (1842)  Thomas  W.  Dorr  governor,  though 
Samuel  W.  King  then  held  that  position  under  the  old  charter. 
King  and  Dorr  both  threatened  to  maintain  their  respective 
authority  by  force  of  arms,  but  Dorr's  followers  abandoned  him. 
He  was  arrested,  convicted  of  treason,  and  sent  to  prison  for  life, 
but  was  pardoned  a  few  years  later.  Before  the  close  of  1842 
a  regularly  organized  state  convention  adopted  a  new  constitu 
tion,  which  put  an  end  to  the  old  charter  government  and  prac 
tically  granted  manhood  suffrage,  or  all  that  the  Free  Suffrage 
party  asked. 


370          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1842 

While  this  bloodless  revolution  was  going  on  in  Rhode  Island 
the  tenants  of  the  Van  Rensselaer  and  other  old  patroon  estates 
(§§  57>  58)  in  New  York  started  an  anti-rent  movement.  The 
dispute  became  serious,  but  was  finally  settled  by  the  landlords 
consenting  to  sell  the  estates  at  a  reduced  valuation.  This  gave 
the  purchasers  a  freehold  title  and  virtually  put  an  end  to  the 
patroon  system. 

380.  The  Webster-Ashburton  Treaty;  slavery  agitation.  The 
boundary  between  the  northeastern  states  and  Canada  had  not 
been  definitely  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain 
made  in  1783.  The  territory  in  dispute  was  chiefly  that  between 
Maine  and  Canada;  it  was  a  little  over  12,000  square  miles  in 
extent,  and  the  controversy  in  regard  to  it  threatened  to  involve 
the  two  countries  in  war.  Negotiations  for  a  settlement  of  this 
dangerous  question  were  opened  by  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  through  Lord  Ashburton  and  Daniel  Webster,  aided  by 
Judge  Story. 

A  treaty1  was  made  (1842):  (i)  it  secured  to  us  more  than 
'half  of  the  tract  of  land  claimed  by  Maine ;  (2)  it  reaffirmed  the 
boundary  line  of  1818  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains  (§318);  (3)  it  made  provision  for  the  mutual  surrender 
of  fugitives  from  justice.  In  the  course  of  the  negotiations 
Mr.  Webster  wrote  Lord  Ashburton  respecting  the  unsettled  ques 
tion  of  impressments  (§§299,  312).  He  stated  that  henceforth 
it  must  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  crew  of  an  American  ves 
sel  would  "  find  their  protection  in  the  flag  which  is  over  them." 

In  the  House,  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  venerable  champion  of 
freedom  and  free  speech  (§§  365,  373),  found  a  young  and  vigor 
ous  coadjutor  in  Joshua  R.  Giddings  of  Ohio.  Giddings  detested 
slavery  as  heartily  as  the  most  zealous  of  the  New  England 
Abolitionists.  He  offered  a  series  of  resolutions  (1842)  declaring 
that  since  slavery  was  an  abridgment  of  the  natural  rights  of  man, 
it  could  not  be  constitutionally  extended  beyond  the  states  it  then 
occupied.2  The  House  censured  Giddings;  he  resigned,  but  was 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  70.  2  Ibid.,  No.  69. 


1842-]       THE   UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        371 

immediately  reflected  by  a  large  majority  and  returned  to  renew 
the  battle  in  behalf  of  free  soil. 

At  the  same  time  (1842)  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  (Prigg  vs.  Pennsylvania)  decided  that  under  the  law  of 
J793  (§257)  the  national  government  could  not  compel  the 
local  officers  of  a  state  to  take  part  in  the  arrest  or  return  of  run 
away  negroes.  This  decision  naturally  created  much  excitement 
in  the  South,  and  that  section  demanded  the  enactment  of  a  new 
and  more  stringent  fugitive-slave  law;  eight  years  later  (1850), 
the  desired  law  was  enacted  (§  414). 

The  growing  irritation  on  this  subject  was  aggravated  by  the 
refusal  of  Governor  Seward  of  New  York  to  give  up  certain  white 
citizens  charged  with  stealing  slaves  at  the  South.  This  provoked 
Virginia  and  South  Carolina  to  enact  a  law  ordering  the  imprison 
ment,  while  in  port,  of  all  colored  seamen  arriving  on  New  York 
vessels.  Later  (1844),  Mr.  Hoar  of  Boston  was  sent  by  his  state 
to  Charleston  to  secure  the  liberation  of  several  such  seamen  who 
were  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  —  a  state  which  had  declined  to 
give  any  aid  in  enforcing  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves.  The  people 
of  Charleston  retaliated  by  compelling  Mr.  Hoar  to  leave  the  city. 

381.  The  question  of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  The  question 
of  the  extension  of  slaveholding  territory  in  the  southwest  was 
now  coming  to  the  front.  When  Houston  became  President  of 
the  "  Lone  Star  Republic  "  of  Texas  (§329)  he  was  fully  resolved 
to  secure  its  annexation  to  the  United  States.  The  slaveholders 
in  the  South  were  eager  to  aid  him  to  accomplish  his  object. 
That  class  felt  that  the  annexation  of  a  large  area  of  slaveholding 
territory  was  demanded  by  the  law  of  political  self-preservation. 
They  knew  that  if  Texas  should  be  added  and  cut  up  into  a 
number  of  slave  states  it  would  decidedly  strengthen  the  South 
in  the  Senate.  They  furthermore  declared  that  the  market  price 
of  negroes  would  thereby  be  greatly  increased. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  Act  of  1820  (§  324)  had  made  free 
soil  of  the  whole  territorial  area  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  north 
of  the  parallel  of  36°  30',  the  state  of  Missouri  alone  excepted. 


372          THE    STUDENT'S    AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1842- 

It  seemed  plain  that  unless  the  South  could  obtain  Texas,  slavery 
must  soon  be  girdled  by  free  states;  in  that  case  the  power  of 
the  slaveholding  class  in  Congress  would  be  driven  to  the  wall  by 
an  ever-increasing  majority  of  northern  representatives. 

Calhoun  urged  immediate  annexation  not  only  as  a  measure 
necessary  to  the  political  and  commercial  welfare  of  the  South 
but  as  the  only  effective  method  of  preventing  Great  Britain  from 
getting  control  of  Texas.  Lord  Brougham  (1843)  implored 
Parliament  to  use  its  influence  to  effect  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  in  Texas,  saying  that  the  success  of  such  a  movement 
"  must  end  in  the  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  the  whole  of 
America."  Calhoun  believed  that  England  adopted  this  course 
hoping  thereby  to  secure  a  monopoly  of  the  production  of  sugar, 
cotton,  rice,  and  tobacco  for  her  colonies. 

On  the  other  hand,  Senator  Benton,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Democratic  party,  who  was  himself  a  slaveholder,  denounced  the 
annexation  project.  He  ridiculed  the  idea  that  Great  Britain 
had  any  designs  on  Texas.  He  declared  that  the  annexation 
scheme  was  urged  mainly  by  three  classes  :  (i)  by  certain  poli 
ticians  who  were  intriguing  for  the  presidency;  (2)  by  those  who 
were  plotting  to  dissolve  the  Union  in  order  to  form  a  southern 
slaveholding  Confederacy ;  and  (3)  by  southern  speculators  who 
held  Texas  scrip  or  Texas  lands. 

382.  Sectional  excitement  over  the  question  of  annexation.  The 
excitement  over  the  discussion  of  the  Texas  question  rose  to  fever 
heat.1  Webster  and  Clay  strongly  opposed  the  annexation  of 
"  another  acre  of  slave  territory,"  and  eight  northern  legislatures 
protested  against  it.  They  declared  that  it  would  tend  to  nation 
alize  slavery,  and  that  it  would  involve  us  in  a  war  with  Mexico, 
which  absolutely  refused  to  recognize  Texan  independence. 

John  Quincy  Adams,  with  twelve  members  of  Congress,  pub 
lished  an  address  declaring  that  annexation  would  not  only 
"  result  in  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  "  but  would  fully  "  justify  it." 

1  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  I,  75-85  ;  Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History  of  the 
United  States,  II,  ch.  vii. 


1842-1844]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    373 

In  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  the  House  resolved  not  to  be 
bound  by  the  action  of  Congress. 

On  the  other  hand,  mass  meetings  were  held  in  various  parts  of 
South  Carolina,  at  which  it  was  resolved  that  it  would  be  better 
"to  be  out  of  the  Union  with  Texas  than  in  it  without  her." 
But  both  at  the  South  and  the  North  there  were  strong  protests 
on  the  part  of  influential  citizens  and  prominent  journals  against 
the  utterance  of  threats  of  disunion. 

383.  Texas  and  the  presidential  campaign.  While  the  people 
were  discussing  the  question,  President  Tyler,  with  the  help  of 
Upshur,  his  Secretary  of  State,  and  later,  with  the  aid  of  Calhoun, 
was  quietly  but  vigorously  pushing  forward  the  scheme  of  annex 
ation.  As  the  time  drew  near  for  the  nomination  of  presidential 
candidates  the  feeling  about  Texas  daily  became  more  intense. 

The  Liberty  party  (§375)  held  its  National  Convention  first 
(1843),  and  again  nominated  James  G.  Birney.  Their  platform 
strongly  condemned  any  attempt  to  extend  slavery  to  national 
territory  and  declared  the  fugitive-slave  law  of  1793  and  the 
clause  in  the  Constitution  on  which  it  was  based  "  null  and  void." 
The  Whig  party  at  their  convention  (1844)  nominated  Henry 
Clay  and  adopted  a  brief  "broad-construction  "  (§  256)  platform, 
advocating  the  establishment  of  a  tariff  for  both  revenue  and 
protection,  and  a  "well-regulated  currency";  their  platform  did 
not  mention  Texas  or  slavery. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  (1844)  adopted  a  "  strict- 
construction  "  (§  256)  platform.  They  deprecated  any  interfer 
ence  by  Congress  with  the  question  of  slavery  as  dangerous  to  the 
stability  of  the  Union,  and  resolved  that  "the  reoccupation  of 
Oregon  (§  389)  (then  held  jointly  with  Great  Britain)  and  the 
reannexation  of  Texas  (§  318)  at  the  earliest  practicable  period 
are  great  American  measures  which  this  convention  recommends." 
They  nominated  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee,  an  "  unconditional 
annexationist,"  for  President. 

The  southern  Whigs  urged  Clay  to  soften  his  outspoken  oppo 
sition  to  the  immediate  annexation  of  Texas,  fearing  that  otherwise 


3/4        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1844-1845 

he  would  lose  many  votes  at  the  South.  Clay,  who,  like  Webster, 
was  a  "Union  saver,"  yielded  and  wrote  a  letter  for  publication, 
in  which  he  said  of  annexation  :  "  I  should  be  glad  to  see  it 
.  .  .  upon  just  and  fair  terms.  I  do  not  think  that  the  subject  of 
slavery  ought  to  affect  the  question  one  way  or  the  other."  The 
Whigs  were  confident  that  they  could  elect  their  candidate;  but 
this  letter  repelled  the  vote  of  the  antislavery  members  of  that 
party.  Clay  was  defeated  and  the  Democrats  elected  Polk,  —  the 
first  political  "dark  horse,"  —  with  George  M.  Dallas  as  Vice 
President.  The  electoral  vote  stood  170  for  Polk  to  105  for 
Clay,  and  the  popular  vote,  1,337,243  to  1,299,068. 

384.  Texas  annexed  (1845);  admission  of  Florida  and  Texas; 
new  tariff.  The  question  of  annexation  came  up  in  Congress  for 
the  last  time  in  the  closing  days  of  Tyler's  administration.  It 
was  doubtful  whether  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote  could  be 
obtained  in  the  Senate ;  Congress  therefore  resorted  to  the 
expedient  of  carrying  the  measure  through  by  a  joint  resolution l 
which  simply  required  a  majority  of  each  House.  The  motion 
to  annex  was  passed,  March  i  (1845),  and  with  it  an  amendment 
proposed  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois,  which  prohibited 
slavery  in  the  Texan  territory  north  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
line  of  36°  30'  (§  324),  but  left  all  territory  south  of  that  line 
open  to  it.  The  entire  area  thus  annexed  then  had  an  extent  of 
over  376,000  square  miles.  It  was  expected  that  Texas  would  be 
divided  into  at  least  five  states,  one  free  and  the  rest  slave. 

The  passage  of  the  vote  was  triumphantly  announced  from  the 
capitol  by  the  firing  of  one  hundred  guns.  Texas  was  the  last  slave 
state  to  enter  the  Union  ;  but  it  was  not  formally  admitted  until  the 
Congress  of  the  next  administration  met  (1845)  and  after  Florida, 
the  twenty-seventh  state,  had  entered.  The  Texans  grievously  dis 
appointed  the  South  by  refusing  to  divide  their  immense  territory 
into  states ;  hence  the  Proslavery  party  in  the  southern  states  did 
not  gain  the  large  increase  in  political  power  in  the  United  States 
Senate  which  it  had  confidently  expected  to  obtain  (§  381). 
l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  71. 


1844-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        375 

Meanwhile  the  "  Compromise  Tariff  "  of  1833  (§355)  had  cut 
down  the  customs  duties  to  such  an  extent  that  the  Treasury  was 
threatened  with  empty  vaults.  The  Whigs,  therefore,  repealed 
the  law  and  passed  a  new  tariff  act  (1842)  ;l  it  was  mainly 
intended  for  revenue,  but  it  had  strong  protective  features. 

385.  Professor  Morse  invents  the  electric  telegraph.  As  the 
annexation  of  Texas  was  the  most  important  political  event  of  the 


THE  REPUBLIC  OF  TEXAS,  ANNEXED  IN  1845,  AND  ADMITTED  TO  THE 
UNION  DECEMBER  29  OF  THAT  YEAR 

The  black  and  white  bars  on  the  southwest  indicate  the  disputed  territory  which 
caused  the  Mexican  War.  The  "  Oregon  Country  "  was  held  jointly  with  Great 
Britain.  Texas  sold  part  of  her  territory  to  the  United  States  in  1850 

Harrison  and  Tyler  administration,  so  the  application  of  electricity 
to  the  transmission  of  messages  and  news  was  the  most  important 
event  in  our  material  progress.  Franklin  (§  181)  said  in  1750, 
"  There  are  no  bounds  (but  what  expense  and  labor  give)  to  the 
force  man  may  raise  and  use  in  the  electrical  way."  But  for  more 
than  three  quarters  of  a  century  after  that  philosopher  made  his 
1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  237. 


376          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1844- 

experiments  little  was  accomplished  in  the  direction  which  he 
had  pointed  out. 

Then  (1831)  Professor  Joseph  Henry  (later  connected  with  the 
Smithsonian  Institute)  invented  an  electro-magnet  which  would 
transmit  a  current  over  a  mile  or  more  of  wire  and  ring  a  bell  at 
the  farther  extremity.  Taking  the  hint  from  this  apparatus,  Pro 
fessor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  (§  374)  invented  (1832)  the  first  record 
ing  telegraph  which  would  make  permanent  intelligible  characters. 
Professor  Morse's  partner,  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  developed  and  per 
fected  these  characters  and  so  formed  the  "dot-and-dash  alpha 
bet"  which  was  finally  adopted. 

But  electricity  had  not  yet  been  compelled  to  fulfill  its  task. 
The  current  failed  after  it  had  traveled  a  short  distance.  The 
question  was  how  to  overcome  this  difficulty.  Mr.  Morse  said, 
"  If  it  will  go  ten  miles  without  stopping,  I  can  make  it  go  around 
the  globe  ";  but  it  would  not  go  ten  miles.  At  length,  after  many 
failures,  he  succeeded  in  inventing  a  relay  magnet  which  would 
reenforce  the  current  and  send  it  to  any  distance.  Then  the 
problem  was  solved. 

386.  Congress  appropriates  $30,000  to  build  the  first  telegraph  ; 
the  line  opened  (1844).  Professor  Morse,  with  his  partner, 
Mr.  Vail,  publicly  exhibited  (1837)  a  small  model  of  the  tele 
graph,  but  capitalists  declined  to  risk  their  money  in  constructing 
a  trial  line.  The  inventor  then  petitioned  Congress  to  grant 
him  $30,000  to  build  a  line  between  Washington  and  Baltimore. 
His  petition  was  generally  treated  with  ridicule.  One  member  sug 
gested  that  if  the  money  should  be  voted,  part  of  it  ought  to  be 
used  for  making  mesmeric  experiments,  while  another  suggested 
that  the  funds  would  be  more  wisely  employed  in  building  a  rail 
road  to  the  moon. 

The  last  day  of  the  session  (March  3,  1843)  was  reached,  but 
Congress  had  taken  no  action.  Professor  Morse  was  almost 
penniless.  He  saw  nothing  but  failure  and  ridicule  before  him. 
He  waited  in  the  capitol  until  a  few  minutes  before  midnight,  and 
then,  unable  to  endure  the  strain,  left  the  building  with  a  sinking 


1844-]       THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        377 

heart.     He  had  hardly  gone  when  Congress  took  up  his  bill  and 
passed  it  without  division. 

The  spring  of  1 844  saw  the  Washington  and  Baltimore  telegraph 
line  completed  and  in  working  order.  On  May  24  Professor  Morse, 
sitting  in  the  old  Supreme  Court  room  in  the  capitol,  sent  over 
the  wire  these  words  quoted  from  Scripture,  "  What  hath  God 
wrought !  "  Two  days  later,  the  National  Democratic  Convention, 
then  in  session  in  Baltimore,  nominated  Polk  for  President.  The 
telegraph  instantly  flashed  the  important  report  to  Congress. 
The  following  day  (May  27,  1844)  the  heading  "Telegraphic 
News  "  appeared  in  a  Washington  journal  for  the  first  time  in  the 
world's  history  ;  it  has  never  since  been  dropped. 

Professor  Morse  lived  to  see  his  line  of  forty  miles  multiplied 
in  the  United  States  more  than  three  thousand  fold ;  he  saw  the 
American  continent  (1861)  crossed  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
(1866)  cabled  by  permanent  electric  wires.  Thirty-seven  years 
later,  Marconi  succeeded  in  sending  a  message  from  the  United 
States  to  Europe  by  his  wonderful  system  of  wireless  telegraphy. 
The  same  year  (1903)  saw  the  completion  of  the  first  American 
cable  from  San  Francisco  to  Manila.  On  that  occasion  President 
Roosevelt  sent  the  first  national  telegram  around  the  world. 

387.  Development  of  telegraphic  communication  and  of  elec 
tricity.  A  network  of  more  than  a  million  miles  of  telegraphic  wire 
now  covers  the  United  States.  Like  a  gigantic  nervous  system, 
it  stretches  from  city  to  city  and  from  town  to  town.  It  practically 
puts  every  center  of  population  throughout  the  Union  in  instan 
taneous  communication  with  every  other,  and  with  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  civilized  globe  besides. 

The  next  great  step  in  electrical  progress  was  the  simultaneous 
invention  of  the  telephone  by  Professor  Bell  and  Professor  Gray 
(1876).  It  brings  places  as  far  apart  as  Boston  and  Kansas  City 
within  speaking  distance  of  each  other.  When  it  shall  be  still  fur 
ther  perfected  the  "  long-distance  telephone  "  promises  to  make 
it  possible  to  carry  on  a  conversation  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  coasts,  or  even  between  America  and  Europe. 


378          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1845- 

Again,  various  experiments  had  been  made  with  electricity, 
with  the  view  of  using  it  as  an  illuminator  or  as  a  motor  power. 
No  practical  results  of  value  were  obtained  until  the  invention  of 
the  arc  light  and  the  Edison  incandescent  light  (1879). 

Five  years  later  (1884),  Edison  set  in  operation  at  Menlo  Park, 
New  Jersey,  two  miles  of  electric  railway,  the  first  opened  to  the 
American  public.  Electricity  has  ever  since  been  coming  into 
use  on  an  increasing  scale.  It  now  drives  machinery,  carriages, 
cabs,  and  trucks,  and  it  has  generally  superseded  horses  on  our 
street  railways.  The  day  is  perhaps  not  far  distant  when  it  will 
be  employed  to  operate  long  lines  of  railway ;  and  should  the 
"  storage  system  "  be  perfected,  we  may  yet  see  it  used  in  pro 
pelling  vessels  on  the  Atlantic. 

388.  Summary.  The  three  most  important  national  events  of 
the  Harrison  and  Tyler  administration  were  :  (i)  the  negotiation 
of  the  Webster-Ashburton  Treaty,  (2)  the  invention  of  the  electric 
telegraph,  and  (3)  the  annexation  of  Texas  as  a  slave  state. 


JAMES  K.  POLK  (DEMOCRAT),  ONE  TERM  (1845-1849) 

389.  The  Oregon  question.  The  new  President  entered  office 
with  a  well-defined  plan  of  political  action.  He  intended  :  (i)  to 
bring  about  a  reduction  of  the  tariff  (§  384)  ;  (2)  to  reestablish 
the  independent  treasury  (§371);  (3)  to  secure  a  final  settle 
ment  of  the  long-pending  Oregon  question  (§  383)  ;  and,  finally, 
(4)  to  acquire  the  Mexican  territory  of  California,  which  was 
greatly  coveted  by  the  South.  He  was  successful  in  every  paj- 
ticularofjns ^programme^  Now  that  Texas  was  annexed  (§  384), 
the  question  came  up  whether  we  should  make  good  the  Demo 
cratic  demand  (§383)  for  the  occupation  of  Oregon.  This  region, 
called  by  an  Indian  name  used  by  Jonathan  Carver  in  1766,  lay 
between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific.  On  the  south 
it  extended  to  the  forty-second  parallel,  or  the  northern  limit  of 
the  Mexican  province  of  California;  on  the  north,  to  latitude 


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184&-]       THE   UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        379 

54°  40',  or  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Russian  possession  called 
Alaska  (§  332). 

Spain,  through  her  early  voyagers  (1543-1774),  planted  her 
flag  on  the  Oregon  coast ;  the  English  explorers  (1579-1793)  also 
claimed  it.  The  government  of  the  United  States  disputed  both 
these  claims.  We  based  our  title  (i)  on  Captain  Gray's  discovery 
and  partial  exploration  of  the  Columbia  River  in  1792  (§258); 
(2)  on  the  exploration  made  by  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1805—1806 
(§  283)  ;  (3)  on  emigration  and  settlement,  beginning  with  Astor's 
fur-trading  post  established  in  1811  (§  312)  and  continued  by 
missionaries  and  pioneers  from  1832  ;  (4)  on  the  transfer  of  all 
Spanish  claims  to  us  by  the  Florida  purchase  treaty  of  1819 
(§318).  The  conflict  of  the  British  and  American  claims  was 
adjusted  by  an  agreement  made  in  1818  and  confirmed  in  1827. 
It  was  stipulated  that  the  two  nations  should  occupy  the  "  Oregon 
Country"  jointly,  with  the  proviso  that  either  government  might 
terminate  the  agreement  by  giving  a  year's  notice  to  the  other. 
This  arrangement  was  in  force  when  Polk  entered  office. 

390.  What  America  thought  of  Oregon.  Before  the  construction 
of  railways,  the  "  Oregon  Country  "  seemed  to  many  American 
statesmen  hardly  worth  disputing  about.  Its  enormous  distance 
from  Washington  made  it  a  question  whether  it  could  be  advanta 
geously  added  to  the  Union  or  securely  retained. .  Jefferson  thought 
(181 1)  that  Oregon  might  become  an  independent  American  nation 
"  unconnected  with  us  but  by  the  ties  of  blood  and  interest." 

Benton  declared  that  the  Rocky  Mountains  ought  to  be  regarded 
as  the  "  natural  and  everlasting  "  western  boundary  of  the  United 
States.  Webster  is  represented  as  saying  of  Oregon  :  "  What  do 
we  want  with  this  vast  worthless  area,  this  region  of  savages  and 
wild  beasts,  of  deserts  of  shifting  sands  and  whirlwinds  of  dust,  of 
cactus  and  prairie  dogs?  "  But  John  Quincy  Adams  believed  that 
the  Pacific  coast  belonged  to  us  by  "  manifest  destiny  ";  Benton, 
too,  became  a  convert  to  the  same  idea,  and  ardently  advocated 
our  settlement  of  that  distant  region.  His  bronze  statue  in 
St.  Louis  stands  pointing  toward  the  Rocky  Mountains,  with  his 


380          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1846- 

words,  " There  is  the  East;  there  is  the  road  to  India  !  "  inscribed 
on  the  pedestal. 

391.  Our  occupation  of  the  "Oregon  Country";  Whitman's 
journey;  the  treaty.  The  permanent  American  settlement  of  the 
"  Oregon  Country  "  did  not  begin  until  1834,  when  the  Methodists 
sent  out  missionaries  to  the  Indians.  A  little  later  (1836),  two 
Orthodox  missionaries,  Dr.  Whitman  and  H.  H.  Spalding,  started 
with  their  brides  to  make  a  home  in  the  wilderness  of  the  far  West. 
They  followed  the  Oregon  trail  (§30)  which  led  from  the  Missouri 
through  the  South  Pass  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  (§  405).  They 
were  the  first  emigrants  who  succeeded  in  getting  a  wagon,  or  at 
least  a  part  of  a  wagon,  across  the  country  to  Fort  Boise  (Idaho). 
There  the  wheels  were  left,  and  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  wife  went 
on  to  Walla  Walla,  on  a  tributary  of  the  Columbia.  Dr.  Whitman's 
famous  wagon  naturally  suggested  the  emigration  of  families,  for 
where  one  wheeled  vehicle  could  go  more  could  follow. 

Six  years  later  (1842),  Dr.  Whitman  set  out  for  the  East.  His 
object  was  to  secure  the  continuance  of  his  mission  and  to  induce 
Christian  families  to  go  to  Oregon.  After  a  terrible  winter  journey 
of  four  thousand  miles  he  reached  Boston.  A  small  party  of  emi 
grants  had  already  gone  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Encouraged  by  the 
action  of  the  Senate,  a  second  party  numbering  about  a  thousand 
started  in  1 84  3 .  Dr.  Whitman  went  as  guide.  By  his  efficient  help 
the  emigrants  reached  the  land  they  sought.  Benton  says  that 
these  men,  with  those  who  followed  them,  "  saved  "  the  territory 
of  Oregon  to  the  United  States.  The  new  settlers  on  the  Columbia 
framed  a  provisional  government  and  held  the  country  for  the 
future.1 

The  northern  boundary  of  the  "  Oregon  Country,"  as  held 
jointly  by  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  (§  389),  was  54°  40'. 
In  1846  the  political  cry  was :  "The  whole  of  Oregon  or  none  !  " 
"  Fifty-four  forty  or  fight !  "  (§  332).  But  a  little  later  our  contest 
with  Mexico  made  the  government  willing  to  concede  a  part  of 

1  See  H.  H.  Bancroft's  Oregon,  I,  ch.  v,  xiii-xv;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View, 
II,  469;  Professor  Bourne's  Essays;  Lyman's  Oregon,  IV,  386. 


1846-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        381 

the  disputed  territory  to  the  demands  of  Great  Britain.  A  treaty  l 
was  negotiated  (1846)  which  fixed  our  northern  boundary  at  the 
49th  parallel.  This  gave  us  the  absolute  control  of  the  Columbia 
River  and  possession  of  about  300,000  square  miles  of  territory, 
out  of  which  the  states  of  Oregon,  Washington,  Idaho,  and  parts 
of  Montana  and  Wyoming  were  subsequently  formed.  Two  years 
later  (1848),  Congress  organized  Oregon  Territory.  Calhoun  de 
manded  that,  in  common  with  all  of  the  public  domain,  it  should 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1846  AFTER  THE  ACQUISITION,  BY  TREATY, 
OF  THE  "  OREGON  COUNTRY."    (Compare  map  on  p.  375) 

be  declared  open  to  slavery ;  but  as  the  Territory  lay  north  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  of  36°  30'  (§324),  Congress  applied 
to  it  the  provisions  of  the  celebrated  Ordinance  of  1787  (§237), 
and  thus  excluded  slavery  forever  from  the  new  Territory. 

392 .  The  Texan  boundary  dispute.  Before  we  got  possession  of 
Texas,  Webster,  Clay,  and  Benton  declared  that  if  we  annexed  it 
(§  384)  we  should  "  annex  a  war  with  Mexico."  Their  predictions 


1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  74. 


382        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1845-1846 

were  soon  fulfilled.  Texas  insisted  that  her  western  boundary 
was  the  Rio  Grande.  This  was  in  accordance  with  the  claim 
made  by  La  Salle  in  the  seventeenth  century  (§  159),  and  which 
Spain  and  France  had  recognized  by  their  respective  treaties 
(1800,  1803)  (§§  172,  280).  The  Republic  of  Mexico,  however, 
contended  that  Texas  did  not  extend  farther  west  than  the  left 
bank  of  the  Nueces.  For  this  reason  the  strip  of  territory  between 
that  river  and  the  Rio  Grande  was  disputed  ground,  and  each 
country  vehemently  denied  that  the  other  had  any  right  to  it 
(see  map  in  §  385). 

393.  Taylor's  advance  into  the  disputed  territory;    Arista's 
attack.    In  the  summer  of  1845  tne  President  ordered  General 
Taylor,  who  was  then  in  Texas,  to  cross  the  Nueces  and  take  post 
at  Corpus  Christi,  within  the  disputed  territory. 

Polk  next  (January,  1846)  ordered  him  to  advance  as  far  as 
the  Rio  Grande.  Taylor  did  so  and  erected  Fort  Brown,  oppo 
site  the  Mexican  town  of  Matamoras,  on  the  farther  bank  of  the 
river.  Arista,  the  Mexican  commander,  notified  General  Taylor 
that  he  considered  his  advance  an  act  of  war  and  requested  him 
to  fall  back  to  the  Nueces.  Taylor  refused  to  move  ;  Arista  then 
crossed  the  river  and  (April  24,  1846)  surprised  and  captured  a 
small  party  of  American  troops.  In  the  fight  several  of  our  men 
were  killed. 

394.  Folk's  message  to  Congress ;  Lincoln's  "  Spot  Resolutions." 
President   Polk   at   once    sent  a  special  message1   to   Congress. 
He  said  :  "  Mexico  has  passed  the  boundary  of  the  United  States, 
has  invaded  our  territory,  and   shed  American  blood  upon  the 
American  soil."    "War  exists,  and  notwithstanding  all  our  efforts 
to  avoid  it,  exists  by  the  act  of  Mexico  herself."     The  United 
States  forthwith  declared  war2  and  called  for  50,000  volunteers. 

When  Abraham  Lincoln  entered  Congress  (1847)  he  presented 

his  famous  "  Spot  Resolutions,"  in  which  he  asked  the  President 

to  inform  Congress,  first,  just  where  the  "  spot "  was  on  which  the 

blood  of  American  citizens   had  been  shed;  and  next,  to  state 

l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  72.  2  ibid.,  No.  73. 


1846]        THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        383 

whether  those  Americans  were  or  were  not  "  armed  soldiers  "  sent 
to  that  "  spot  "  by  his  express  orders.  Lowell  wrote  his  stinging 
satire  entitled  the  "  Biglow  Papers "  in  opposition  to  the  war ; 
and  Thomas  Corwin  of  Ohio  boldly  declared  in  the  Senate  that 
if  he  were  a  Mexican  he  would  greet  the  American  invaders  with 
"  bloody  hands  "  and  welcome  them  "  to  hospitable  graves."  *• 

395.  Palo  Alto ;  Resaca  de  la  Palma ;  Monterey.    Meanwhile 
General  Taylor,  with  his  army  of  less  than  3000  men,  had  ad 
vanced  against  a  Mexican  force  of  more  than  double  that  number. 
He  fought  a  battle  (May  8,  1846)  on  the  marshy  plain  of  Palo 
Alto,  and  followed  it  up  the  next  day  with  the  battle  of  the 
ravine  of  Resaca  de  la  Palma.     Both  of  these  engagements  took 
place  within  the  disputed  territory,  between  the  Nueces  and  the 
Rio  Grande ;  in  each  case  we  were  successful  and  the  Mexicans 
were  routed  with  heavy  loss. 

Taylor  then  crossed  the  Rio  Grande,  occupied  Matamoras 
(§  393),  and  advanced  into  the  interior  of  Mexico  as  far  as  the 
fortified  town  of  Monterey.  Here  the  enemy  made  a  determined 
stand.  Three  days  of  desperate  fighting  followed  (September 
22—24,  1846)  ;  Taylor's  men  dug  their  way  through  the  stone 
walls  of  the  houses  or  climbed  to  the  flat  roofs  and  fought  their 
way  from  street  to  street  till  they  took  the  city. 

396.  General  Scott  takes  chief  command;  his  plan  of  campaign  ; 
Buena   Vista.    As   it  now  seemed    probable  .that   the   Mexicans 
would    make    a   prolonged    resistance,    General   Winfield    Scott 
(§  306),  the  senior  officer  in  the  United  States  army,  was  ordered 
to  take  the  chief  command.     His  plan  was  to  leave  Taylor  with 
a    small  force   to   hold   the   line   of  the   Rio   Grande  while   he 
embarked  with  an  army  to  capture  the  fortified  port  of  Vera 
Cruz.     He  then  purposed  moving  directly  on  the  city  of  Mexico, 
the  capital  of  the  Mexican  Republic. 

General  Kearny,  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  West, 
had  advanced  from  Fort  Leavenworth  (Kansas)  against  Santa  Pe" 
to  take  possession  of  that  city  and  of  New  Mexico,  preparatory  to 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  IV,  24. 


No.  I :  THE  MEXICAN  WAR.     No.  II :  SCOTT'S  MARCH  TO  THE 
CITY  OF  MEXICO 


1847]         THE    UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        385 

moving  forward  to  occupy  the  Mexican  province  of  California. 
The  Mormons  (§  372)  raised  a  battalion  which  took  part  in  this 
expedition  of  conquest  and  helped  to  secure  California  to  the 
United  States. 

Taylor's  force  was  now  about  4600  men ;  with  this  little  army 
he  resolved  to  hold  the  wild  mountain  pass  of  Buena  Vista,  to  the 
southwest  of  Monterey  (§  395),  against  the  enemy  who  were 
advancing  to  attack  him.  Santa  Ana,  the  commander  in  chief 
of  the  Mexican  army,  surrounded  Taylor  with  a  force  20,000 
strong ;  he  then  sent  the  American  general  a  dispatch  telling 
him  that  he  must  surrender  or  be  cut  to  pieces.  "  Old  Rough 
and  Ready,"  as  his  men  called  him,  determined  to  hold  his 
ground,  and  the  unequal  contest  began  (February  22,  1847). 
Colonel  Jefferson  Davis,  with  his  gallant  Mississippians,  and 
Captain  Bragg,  with  his  batteries  hurling  storms  of  grapeshot, 
saved  the  day.  Santa  Ana  retreated,  and  Buena  Vista  was 
recorded  on  our  roll  of  victories,  though  it  cost  Taylor  more  than 
a  sixth  of  his  entire  force  to  win  the  fight.  This  was  Taylor's  last 
battle  ;  he  resented  what  he  considered  to  be  political  interference 
with  his  plans,  and,  leaving  General  Wool  in  command,  returned 
late  in  1847  to  his  home  in  Louisiana.  The  enthusiasm  over  Buena 
Vista  made  Taylor's  name  the  Whig  rallying  cry  as  candidate  for 
the  presidency. 

397.  Vera  Cruz ;  Cerro  Gordo ;  advance  on  Mexico.  General 
Scott  with  less  than  12,000  men  had  already  taken  Vera  Cruz 
(§  396),  "the  Gibraltar  of  Mexico"  (March  27,  1847).  Among 
the  officers  who  made  their  mark  in  that  victorious  siege  two 
deserve  especial  notice,  —  Lieutenant  Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  Cap 
tain  Robert  E.  Lee.  Seventeen  years  later,  they  were  to  face  each 
other  on  the  battlefields  of  the  Civil  War. 

Having  captured  the  castle  and  port,  Scott  began  his  advance 
into  the  interior.  He  met  the  enemy  on  the  rugged  heights  of 
Cerro  Gordo.  Santa  Ana  fled  and  the  Americans  moved  for 
ward.  In  August  (1847)  our  little  force  climbed  the  summit 
of  the  Cordilleras  and  looked  down  on  the  capital  of  Mexico, 


386          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1847 

surrounded  by  lakes  and  sparkling  in  the  sun.  The  city  could  not 
be  approached  except  by  the  National  Road,  —  a  causeway  built 
across  a  marsh.  Santa  Ana  posted  a  strong  force  to  sweep  that 
road  with  cannon.  The  venerable  Duke  of  Wellington  had  fol 
lowed,  on  a  map,  the  advance  of  the  American  general  to  this 
point ;  then  he  said  :  "  Scott  is  lost.  ...  He  can't  take  the  city 
and  he  can't  fall  back  upon  his  base." 

398.  Contreras,  Churubusco,  Molino  del  Rey,  and  Chapultepec. 
But  Scott  recalled   Napoleon's  maxim,   "  Never  go  where  your 
enemy  wants  you  to  go."     He  turned  aside  and  made  his  way 
forward  by  a  circuitous  route  over  the  rough  lava  beds,  building 
his  road  and  beating  back  the  foe  as  he  advanced.     First  he  won 
the  battle  of  Contreras  (August  20,  1847),  and  on  the  following 
day  that  of  the  convent  of  Churubusco.    Next,  after  the  bloodiest 
fight  of  the  war,  he  took  the  cannon  foundry  of  Molino  del  Rey 
(September  8,  1847).     Less  than  a  week  later  (September.  13, 
1847),  he  stormed  the  castle-crowned  heights  of  Chapultepec, 
which  guarded  the  gate  of  the  city. 

399.  Scott  enters  the  city  of  Mexico  (1847);  end  of  tne  warl 
results.    The  next  day  Scott  entered  the  Mexican  capital  and 
hoisted  the  American  flag  (September  14,  1847)  on  the  walls  of 
the  national  palace.     The  contest  was  now  practically  over  and 
the  United  States  could  dictate  its  own  terms.     The  people  of 
Mexico  had  fought  bravely,  but  they  were  wretchedly  organized 
and  utterly  lacking  in  military  training. 

The  conflict  with  Mexico  is  perhaps  the  only  modern  war  in 
which  every  battle  ended  in  victory,  and  every  victory  was  gained 
by  the  invading  army.  It  was  the  training  school  for  the  Ameri 
can  Civil  War.  General  Grant,  who  later  severely  condemned  the 
war  against  Mexico,  said  that  all  the  older  officers  who  became 
conspicuous  in  that  terrible  struggle  between  the  North  and  South 
had  served  under  Taylor  or  Scott. 

400.  Fremont  is   sent  to  California.    When  the  Mexican  War 
broke  out  Captain  John  C.  Fremont,  Benton's  son-in-law,  was  in  the 
Mexican  province  of  California.     His  explorations  in  the  far  West 


1846]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        387 

(1842— i  £44)  had  won  for  him  the  popular  name  of  the  "  Path 
finder,"  and  the  government  sent  him  (1845)  on  a  third  expedi 
tion  "  to  spy  out  "  the  coveted  Mexican  territory  on  the  Pacific. 

In  the  spring  of  1846  Fremont  moved  northward  into  Oregon. 
While  there  a  messenger  from  Washington  arrived  (May  9, 
1846),  bringing  a  verbal  dispatch  from  Mr.  Buchanan,  Secretary 
of  State.  This  dispatch,  says  Fremont,  informed  him  that  "  the 
government  intended  to  take  California."  He  was  instructed  to 
counteract  any  schemes  of  the  British  to  get  possession  of  that 
country,  and  at  the  same  time  to  "  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the 
inhabitants  toward  the  United  States." 

401.  Fremont  takes  Sonoma;  the   "bear  flag."    Fremont  at 
once  returned  to  California  and  encamped  near  Sutter's  Fort,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Sacramento.     Soon  after  his  arrival  a  report 
was  brought  that  Mexican  forces  were  preparing  to  drive  out  all 
Americans.     Fremont  sent  Merritt,  one  of  his  men,  to  capture 
Sonoma,  a  town  about  fifty  miles  north  of  San  Francisco.    Sonoma 
was  quickly  taken  (June    14,  1846),  and    the   Americans    then 
hoisted  the  famous  "  bear  flag."    It  was  a  strip  of  white  cloth  on 
which  they  had  painted  a  huge  "  grizzly  "  facing  a  star;  under 
neath  was  the  inscription  "  California  Republic."    Fremont  soon 
afterward  fixed  his   headquarters  at  Sonoma.     In   commencing 
hostilities  he  had  acted,  says  Benton,  entirely  on  his  own  respon 
sibility  and  without  orders  from  the  government. 

402 .  Capture  of  Monterey ;  conquest  of  California.    A  little  later, 
Commodore  Sloat,  then  commanding  a  United  States  squadron  off 
the   coast,  entered  the  harbor  of  Monterey,  south  of  San  Fran 
cisco.     He  ran  up  the  "stars  and  stripes"  (July  7,  1846)  and 
proclaimed  California  "a  portion  of  the  United  States."     A  week 
later,  Captain  Montgomery  raised  the  same  colors  at  San  Fran 
cisco.     Admiral  Seymour,  in  command  of  a  British  fleet,  arrived 
shortly  afterward  at  Monterey.    To  his  astonishment  he  found  the 
American    flag    flying  over    the   town,   the  American    squadron, 
then  under  Commodore  Stockton,  in  its  harbor,  and  Fremont's 
mounted  riflemen  in  camp. 


388        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1846-1848 


The  Americans  proceeded  to  organize  a  civil  goVernment 
(August  13,  1846)  and  chose  Fremont  for  governor.  Com 
modore  Shubrick,  of  the  United  States  navy,  arrived  in  January 
(1847);  acting  in  conjunction  with  Commodore  Stockton  and 
Governor  Fremont,  these  three  commanders  completed  the  occu 
pation  of  the  province  without  any  very  serious  fighting.  Fremont 
got  the  lion's  share  of  fame,  and  the  people  of  California  have 
always  considered  him  the  real  conqueror  of  the  country. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1854 

Showing  the  Mexican  cessions  of  1848  (namely,  California,  Utah,  New  Mexico)  and 
the  padsden  purchase  of  1853  (indicated  by  date  on  map) 

403.  Treaty  of  peace  (1848) ;  territory  ceded  by  Mexico ;  the 
Gadsden  purchase  (1853).  A  little  more  than  a  year  later,  a  treaty 
of  peace  l  was  signed  (February  2,  1848)  between  Mexico  and  the 
United  States.  Mexico  was  forced  to  cede  to  us  the  territory  of 
Upper  California  and  New  Mexico,  for  which,  moved  by  the 
pressure  of  public  opinion,  we  agreed  to  pay  $15,000,000.  The 
treaty  made  the  Rio  Grande  the  western  boundary  of  Texas  and 
1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  76. 


1848-]       THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        389 

the  Gfla  River  the  northern  boundary  of  Mexico.  The  Mexican 
government  tried  in  vain  to  secure  a  pledge  from  the  United 
States  to  keep  slavery  out  of  the  ceded  territory. 

The  Mexican  land  cession  included  Utah,  Nevada,  and  parts 
of  Arizona,  Colorado,  and  Wyoming.  Adding  Texas,  this  region 
formed  a  broad  belt  extending  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
Pacific  and  having  an  area  of  over  850,000  square  miles,  or 
more  than  the  entire  American  Republic  possessed  at  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Five  years  later  (1853),  in  order  to  settle  a  dispute  respecting 
the  Gila  River  boundary,  Captain  Gadsden  purchased  the  Mesilla 
Valley,  a  region  south  of  that  river,  for  the  United  States.  For 
the  sum  of  $10,000,000  we  thus  added  to  our  previous  acquisi 
tions  a  tract  having  an  area  of  more  than  45,000  square  miles. 

404.  The  new  tariff ;  Independent  Treasury  Act ;  cheap  post 
age;  the  Wilmot  Proviso  (1846);  Calhoun's  resolutions  (1847); 
"  Woman's  Rights"  Convention  (1848).  Meanwhile  the  Demo 
cratic  Congress  had  passed  (1846)  a  new  tariff  act1  (the  Walker 
Tariff)  (§  384) .  It  was  mainly  for  revenue,  and,  with  some  excep 
tions,  on  a  free- trade  basis.  In  1857  the  duties  were  still  further 
lowered  and  the  free  list  extended.  This  altered  tariff  remained 
in  force  until  the  spring  of  1861,  when  the  Morrill  Tariff  made  the 
average  rate  of  duty  somewhat  higher  than  the  rate  of  i846.2  Its 
chief  object  was  revenue. 

In  the  course  of  the  same  summer  (1846)  Van  Buren's  great 
measure,  the  Independent  or  Subtreasury  Act  (§371)'  was  Per~ 
manently  reenacted.3  In  1845  Congress  reduced  the  rate  of 
postage  to  a  maximum  rate  of  ten  cents  —  it  had  been  twenty- 
five  and  charged  five  cents  for  distances  of  three  hundred  miles 

and  under.     Two  years  later  (1847),  postage  stamps  were  issued, 
but  they  did  not  come  into  general  use  until  a  number  of  years 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  249. 

2  Ibid.,  262,  265. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  75  ;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the 
United  States,  252. 


390          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [184&- 

later.  In  1863  postage  on  letters  was  reduced  to  three  cents, 
and  in  1883  to  two  cents.  This  rate  is  perhaps  the  cheapest  in  the 
world,  since  a  two-cent  stamp  will  carry  a  letter  from  Key  West, 
Florida,  to  Sitka,  Alaska,  a  distance  of  over  4000  miles,  or  from 
New  York  to  Manila,  a  distance  of  12,000  miles. 

Shortly  after  the  Mexican  War  began  (1846)  President  Polk 
asked  Congress  for  an  appropriation  of  $2,000,000  to  purchase 
territory  from  Mexico  in  order  to  adjust  the  boundary.  A  bill 
was  introduced  to  that  end  ;  David  Wilmot,  a  Pennsylvania  Demo 
crat,  offered  the  famous  Wilmot  Proviso  (1846)  as  an  amend 
ment  to  this  bill.  It  extended  the  provision  of  the  Ordinance  of 
1787  (§  237),  which  prohibited  slavery,  so  that  it  would  cover  all 
territory  which  might  be  ceded  to  us  by  Mexico. 

Many  northern  Democrats  voted  with  the  northern  Whigs  for 
the  Wilmot  Proviso ;  it  passed  the  House,  but  did  not  reach  the 
Senate  in  time  to  be  acted  upon.  Every  northern  Legislature  but 
one  approved  of  the  measure ;  but  the  Southern  States,  with  few 
exceptions,  passed  resolutions  refusing  to  submit  to  it.  They  pro 
tested  against  any  legislation  which  should  prevent  slaveholders 
from  taking  their  negroes  with  them  into  the  public  domain. 

After  a  prolonged  fight  the  Wilmot  Proviso  failed  of  adoption, 
but  it  led  to  the  organization,  two  years  later,  of  the  Free-Soil 
party,  which  was  eventually  absorbed  by  the  Republican  party.  It 
also  led  to  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  Oregon  Territory  (§  391). 
After  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  Congress,  by  the  Territorial 
Act  (1862),  accepted  the  principle  of  the  Proviso  and  prohibited 
"  slavery  in  any  territory  of  the  United  States  now  existing,  or 
which  may  be  hereafter  formed  or  acquired." 

At  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act 
(1820)  Calhoun  admitted  the  right  of  Congress  to  exclude  slavery 
from  the  territories  (§324).  In  1837  he  did  not  openly  take 
the  opposite  ground  (§  373).  But  in  1847  he  took  a  new  and 
aggressive  stand  and  offered  a  series  of  resolutions l  in  the  Senate 
in  which  he  emphatically  denied  the  constitutional  power  of 

1  See  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  II,  696. 


1847-1848]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    391 

Congress  to  shut  out  slavery  from  the  public  lands.    He  further 
more  declared  that  the  exercise  of  such  power  would  necessarily  ;' 
lead  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

These  resolutions  anticipated  the  Dred  Scott  decision  of  ten 
years  later  (§  433).  No  action  was  taken  on  Calhoun's  motion. 
Soon  afterward  (1847)  he  wrote  a  letter  to  a  member  of  the  Ala 
bama  Legislature,  in  which  he  declared  that  he  believed  the  South, 
instead  of  avoiding  the  slavery  contest,  should  "  force  the  issue  on 
the  North."  He  ended  by  saying  that  the  true  policy  for  the 
South  to  adopt  was  one  of  retaliation,  and  that  they  should  close 
their  ports  against  seagoing  vessels  from  the  offending  Northern 
States,  leaving  open  the  trade  of  the  West  by  the  Mississippi. 
This  course,  said  he,  would  be  "a  remedy  short  of  disunion," 
while  it  would  tend  "  to  detach  the  Northwestern  from  the 
Northeastern  states."  1 

While  this  agitation  respecting  the  extension  of  slavery  was 
going  on  in  and  out  of  Congress,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 
Reverend  Samuel  J.  May,  Lucretia  Mott,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  and 
Lucy  Stone  were  urging  that  women  should  stand  on  a  political 
equality  with  men.  The  first  Woman's  Rights  Convention  in 
the  world  was  held  at  Seneca  Falls,  New  York,  in  the  summer  of 
1848.  This  meeting  led  to  the  organization  of  the  National 
Woman  Suffrage  Convention  which  met  in  Worcester,  Massachu 
setts,  two  years  later  (1850).  The  agitation  thus  begun  has 
resulted  in  recent  years  in  the  admission  of  women,  in  several 
states,  to  equality  of  suffrage  and  power  to  hold  office,  and  in 
admission  to  partial  suffrage  in  a  number  of  other  states. 

405.  Discovery  of  gold  in  California.  Just  before  the  treaty  of 
peace  with  Mexico  was  signed  (§  403)  gold  was  discovered  (Jan 
uary  24,  1848)  in  California.  It  was  found  in  the  newly  dug  mill 
race  of  Captain  Sutter's  sawmill  at  Coloma,  on  the  American 
River.  Specimens  of  the  ore  were  carried  to  Governor  Mason, 
and  he,  with  Colonel  W.  T.  Sherman,  carefully  tested  them.  The 
discovery  caused  no  particular  excitement,  as  it  was  not  believed 

1  See  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  II,  699-700. 


392 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


[1848 


that  the  precious  metal  could  be  obtained  in  paying  quantities. 
But  early  in  May  (1848)  a  Mormon  walked  through  the  village  of 
San  Francisco,  holding  up  a  bottle  of  yellow  dust  in  one  hand, 
swinging  his  hat  with  the  other,  and  shouting  at  the  top  of  his 
voice  :  "  Gold  !  gold  !  gold  from  the  American  River  !  "  Then 
the  rush  began,  and  soon  the  entire  male  population  of  San 
Francisco  and  vicinity  was  "'off  to  the  diggings." 

The  news  was  speedily  transmitted  to  the  East ;  a  box  of  Cali 
fornia  gold  was  exhibited  at  the  war  office  at  Washington,  and  the 
President  spoke  of  the  marvelous  discovery  in  his  message. 


L\A 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK'S  EXPLORATION  (1804-1806);  FIRST  SETTLEMENT 
OF  OREGON  ;  DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD  IN  CALIFORNIA 

406.  Emigration  to  California;  the  San  Francisco  "Vigilance 
Committee  " ;  results  of  the  production  of  gold.  A  great  movement 
of  emigration  to  California1  at  once  began.  From  Maine  to  Texas 
thousands  of  men,  armed  with  pick  and  shovel,  crowded  the  ports 
on  their  way  to  the  new  El  Dorado.  The  recently  established  lines 
of  Panama  steamers  could  not  carry  the  multitudes  that  besieged 
their  offices.  In  the  height  of  the  excitement  emigrants  eagerly 

1  See  H.  H.  Bancroft's  California,  VI,  ch.  vii-ix. 


1848-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT       393 

paid  a  thousand  dollars  for  steerage  passage  with  the  privilege  of 
sleeping  "  in  a  coil  of  rope."  Every  kind  of  ship,  whether  seawor 
thy  or  not,  was  pressed  into  the  service,  —  some  making  the  19,000 
mile  voyage  around  Cape  Horn,  —  and  in  a  single  year  a  thousand 
vessels  entered  the  once  almost  solitary  harbor  of  San  Francisco. 

The  next  spring  (1849)  the  great  overland  march  began.  By 
the  end  of  April  twenty  thousand  men,  women,  and  children  had 
gathered  at  St.  Joseph,  Independence,  'and  other  points  on  the 
Missouri  River,  ready  to  cross  the  plains.  They  journeyed  on 
horseback,  on  foot,  and  in  huge,  canvas-covered  wagons  known 
as  "  prairie  schooners." 

Multitudes  died  before  they  reached  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
while  others,  exhausted  by  hunger  and  fatigue,  were  glad  to  stop 
at  Salt  Lake  City  (§  372)  and  hire  themselves  out  as  day  laborers 
to  the  thrifty  Mormon  farmers.  Those  whom  no  hardship  or  suf 
fering  could  daunt  pressed  on,  until  at  last  they  descended  the 
Sierras  and  entered  the  Land  of  Promise.  Their  weary  pathway 
through  the  terrible  wilderness  was  marked  by  the  bleaching  skele 
tons  of  horses  and  cattle,  and  by  many  newly  made  graves. 

Nothing  could  check  the  movement,  and  at  the  close  of  1849 
between  80,000  and  100,000  emigrants  had  passed  into  California. 
Since  the  settlers  went  out  to  work  in  the  mines,  they  naturally 
respected  free  labor ;  for  as  one  brawny  toiler  said,  Where  every 
gold  digger  makes  a  white  slave  of  himself  there  is  no  chance  for 
keeping  black  ones.  This  feeling  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  state 
constitution  prohibiting  slavery. 

The  rapidly  growing  city  of  San  Francisco  naturally  attracted 
many  lawless  and  desperate  characters.  The  inefficiency  of  the 
courts  prompted  the  organization  of  a  "Vigilance  Committee," 
which  practically  governed  the  city  from  1851  to  1856.  It  tried, 
convicted,  and  hanged  several  notorious  criminals,  drove  many 
others  out  of  the  country,  and,  though  acting  without  the  law,  it 
compelled  the  dangerous  classes  to  respect  law  and  order.  In  the 
end  this  organization,  the  result  of  an  awakening  of  the  public  con 
science,  brought  about  important  municipal  and  legislative  reforms. 


394          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [184&- 

Up  to  the  time  when  gold  was  discovered  on  the  Pacific  coast 
the  value  of  the  whole  annual  product  of  that  metal  in  the  United 
States  was  less  than  $250,000.  In  1848  California  alone  pro 
duced  $10,000,000;  in  1849,  $40,000,000;  and  by  1853  it  had 
reached  its  maximum  product  of  $65,000,000.  The  total  amount 
obtained  from  1848  to  1856  was  $456,000,000,  and  the  entire 
yield  of  the  half  century  (1848-1897)  is  estimated  at  upwards  of 
$2,000,000,000.  Yet  the  precious  metal  actually  cost  more  labor 
than  it  was  worth. 

The  enormous  production  of  gold  in  California  had  far-reaching 
economic  and  political  results:  (i)  it  raised  the  price  of  goods 
and  labor;  (2)  it  opened  new  markets  and  extended  commerce; 
(3)  it  filled  a  wilderness  with  settlers,  stimulated  the  development 
of  the  Pacific  coast,  established  new  lines  of  steamships,  com 
pelled  the  opening  of  a  stage  route  and  a  pony  express  from  the 
Missouri  to  San  Francisco,  and  in  time  led  to  the  construction  of 
a  transcontinental  telegraph  and  a  transcontinental  railway ;  (4)  it 
was  one  of  the  causes  which  induced  the  majority  of  the  nations 
of  Europe  (1870-1878)  to  stop  the  coinage  of  silver  (except 
for  "  change  "),  and  to  adopt  gold  as  their  sole  standard  money ; 
(5 )  it  extended  the  power  of  free  labor  to  the  Pacific  coast  and 
effectually  shut  out  slavery  from  all  the  new  West. 

407.  Inventions  and  discoveries ;  the  sewing  machine ;  ether. 
It  was  during  Folk's  administration  that  Elias  Howe  patented 
(1846)  what  he  called  his  "  iron  needlewoman,"  the  first  practical 
sewing  machine.  It  revolutionized  the  manufacture  of  clothing 
and  greatly  reduced  its  price.  It  was  feared  that  the  sewing 
machine  would  permanently  throw  large  numbers  of  people  out  of 
work ;  but  it  has  had  just  the  opposite  effect.  Instead  of  con 
tracting  the  field  of  hand  labor,  the  introduction  of  machinery 
has  actually  extended  it.  At  the  same  time  the  introduction  of 
the  telegraph,  telephone,  and  typewriter  has  created  new  oppor 
tunities  of  employment  for  thousands. 

A  very  remarkable  discovery  was  now  at  hand.  Dr.  Horace 
Wells  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  found  (1844)  by  experiments  in 


184C-1848]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    395 

dentistry  that  he  could  produce  insensibility  to.  pain  by  the  use 
of  nitrous  oxide  gas.  This  discovery  stimulated  the  efforts  of 
Dr.  W.  T.  G.  Morton  of  Boston,  a  former  partner  of  Dr.  Wells, 
to  endeavor  to  find  a  more  effective  anaesthetic  for  longer  opera 
tions.  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson  of  Boston  suggested  to  Dr.  Morton, 
then  a  student  in  his  office,  to  try  the  inhalation  of  the  vapor  of 
sulphuric  ether ;  to  his  surprise  and  delight  it  proved  to  be  what 
he  was  seeking. 

In  1846  he  obtained  permission  from  the  senior  surgeon  of  the 
Massachusetts  General  Hospital  in  Boston  to  have  a  public  test 
made  in  that  institution.  Late  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  (Octo 
ber  1 6,  1846)  the  first  important  operation  ever  performed  under 
ether  took  place  beneath  the  dome  of  the  hospital.  The  room 
was  completely  filled  with  physicians  and  eminent  men  of  other 
professions,  who  had  been  invited  to  see  the  miracle  of  painless 
surgery.  The  operation  was  successfully  performed  while  the 
patient  slept  as  quietly  under  the  knife  as  a  child  in  its  cradle.1 

Other  physicians  had  privately  experimented  with  ether,  but 
Dr.  Morton  first  publicly  demonstrated  the  fact  that  it  could  be 
safely  and  conveniently  used  in  serious  surgical  cases.  He  first 
gave  ether  to  the  world.  For  this  reason  he  justly  received  the 
credit  of  having  made  the  most  beneficent  contribution  to  medical 
science  recorded  in  history,  —  one  which  must  henceforth  render 
every  human  being  his  debtor.  In  commemoration  of  his  work 
his  monument  in  Mount  Auburn  Cemetery,  near  Boston,  bears 
this  inscription  :  "  Before  whom,  in  all  time,  surgery  was  agony.  .  .  . 
Since  whom,  science  has  control  of  pain." 

408.  The  presidential  election;  new  states;  slavery  and  free 
dom.  The  Democratic  National  Convention  (1848)  nominated 
Lewis  Cass  on  a  "strict-construction"  (§256)  platform,  which 
reaffirmed  the  principles  they  had  declared  in  1840  (§  375). 
The  Whig  National  Convention  refused  to  make  a  platform  2  and 

1  See  the  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital  for  1848 ;  N.  I.  Bow- 
ditch's  Ether  Controversy. 

2  But  a  Whig  ratification  meeting,  held  June  9,  1848,  adopted  a  set  of  resolutions 
which  has  been  called  a  platform. 


396        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1848-1849 

nominated  General  Zachary  Taylor  (§  396).  Neither  convention 
would  speak  out  on  the  question  of  the  extension  of  slavery,  —  a 
subject  which  was  soon  to  be  uppermost  in  politics.  Finally,  a  new 
organization,  —  the  Free-Soil  party,  —  which  made  the  Wilmot 
Proviso  (§  404)  its  corner  stone,  held  their  National  Convention. 

The  Free-Soilers  consisted  mainly  of  two  elements :  the  first 
was  the  Radical  Democrats,  who  were  determined  to  stop  the 
extension  of  slavery  at  any  cost.  Their  opponents,  the  Conserv 
ative  Democrats,  or  "  Hunkers,"  compared  them  to  the  farmer 
who  set  fire  to  his  barn  to  clear  it  of  rats,  and  so  nicknamed  them 
"  barn  burners."  The  second  element  in  the  Free-Soil  party  was 
the  Abolitionists,  or  members  of  the  old  Liberty  party  (§§375, 
383).  In  its  platform  the  Convention  declared  itself  for  "free 
soil,  free  speech,  free  labor,  and  free  men."  It  nominated  ex- 
President  Martin  Van  Buren  (§  368). 

The  Whigs  succeeded  in  what  was  called  the  "  star-and-stripe 
campaign,"  and  elected  General  Taylor,  with  Millard  Fillmore  as 
Vice  President.  It  was  their  second  and  last  great  political  victory 
(§  37S)«  The  electoral  vote  stood  163  to  127,  and  the  popular 
vote,  1,360,101  to  1,220,544,  besides  291,263  cast  by  the  Free- 
Soilers  for  Van  Buren. 

Under  Folk's  administration  three  new  states  —  Texas  (1845), 
Iowa  (1846),  and  Wisconsin  (1848)  —  were  admitted  to  the  Union, 
making  the  whole  number  thirty.  Half  were  free  and  half  were 
slave  states.  This  division  gave  both  sections  equal  representation 
in  the  Senate ;  but  owing  to  the  much  larger  population  of  the 
North  (due  in  considerable  measure  to  immigration)  (§  374),  the 
free  states  had  139  representatives  to  91  from  the  slave  states. 
It  was  plain  that  unless  the  South  could  secure  additional  slave 
territory  the  free  states  would  soon  control  Congress. 

409.  Summary.  The  principal  events  of  Polk's  administration 
were  :  (i)  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question  by  treaty  with 
Great  Britain ;  (2)  war  with  Mexico  and  the  acquisition  of  a 
large  amount  of  territory ;  (3)  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California ; 
(4)  the  discussion  of  slavery  extension  as  represented  in  the  Wilmot 


1849]        THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        397 

Proviso  and  in  Calhoun's  resolutions ;  (5)  the  rise  of  the  Free- 
Soil  party ;  (6)  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  independent 
treasury  system  and  the  beginning  of  the  woman's  rights  move 
ment;  (7)  the  invention  of  the  sewing  machine  and  Morton's 
introduction  of  ether  into  surgery. 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR  "(WHIG),  ONE  TERM  (1849-1853) 

410.  General  Taylor's  position;  the  question  of  slavery  exten 
sion.  Before  his  election  to  the  presidency  (§  408)  General 
Taylor  said,  "  I  have  no  private  purpose  to  accomplish,  no  party 
projects  to  build  up,  no  enemies  to  punish,  —  nothing  to  serve 
but  my  country."  Taylor  did  not  seek  the  office  to  which  the 
Whig  party  had  elected  him.  He  took  so  little  interest  in  politics 
that  he  had  never  in  his  life  cast  a  vote.  He  was  one  of  the  largest 
slaveholders  in  the  South,  yet,  like  Henry  Clay  (§§  352,  382), 
he  now  opposed  the  extension  of  slavery.  He  was  by  nature  a 
soldier,  a  man  of  action,  blunt  and  "  downright  ";  he  had  served 
under  the  " stars  and  stripes"  for  more  than  forty  years ;  he  loved 
the  flag  and  he  loved  the  Union  which  that  flag  represented. 
"  Disunion,"  said  he,  "is  treason." 

Congress  had  recently  excluded  slavery  from  Oregon  Territory 
(§391).  It  was  now  called  to  decide  the  burning  question  whether 
slavery  should  be  admitted  into  the  new  territory  ceded  by  Mexico 
(§  404).  Clay  had  contended  that  the  people  of  the  territories 
should  determine  the  question  for  themselves  (§  373).  Cass, 
when  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  in  1847,  had  taken  the 
same  position  in  his  argument  against  the  Wilmot  Proviso  (§  404). 
Calhoun  ridiculed  this  doctrine  as  "  Squatter  Sovereignty  " ;  later, 
in  a  different  form,  it  was  advocated  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
under  the  name  of  "Popular  Sovereignty."  After  a  bitter  contest 
Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia,  a  strong  advocate  of  slavery  extension, 
was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House.  This  seemed  to  presage  a 
victory  for  the  South. 


398        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1849-1850 

411.  Debate  on  the  admission  of  California  as  a  free  state. 
In  anticipation  of  a  Congressional  battle  over  slavery  extension, 
President  Taylor  had  recommended  the  newly  acquired  territories 
to  form  state  constitutions.  He  hoped  that  he  might  thereby 
get  the  vexed  question  promptly  settled;  but  he  was  disap 
pointed.  Acting  on  the  President's  suggestion,  the  people  of 
California  adopted  a  constitution  (November  13,  1849)  which 
prohibited  slavery  (§  406).  This  roused  an  angry  debate  which 
continued  for  nearly  a  year. 

If  California  should  be  admitted  as  a  free  state,  there  seemed 
little  prospect  that  any  of  the  remaining  territory  obtained  from 
Mexico  could  be  gained  by  the  South.  Webster,  Clay,  and 
Alexander  H.  Stephens  declared  that  hitherto  slavery  had  gener 
ally  taken  the  lead  in  Congress  and  controlled  the  Executive. 
The  growth  of  the  Republic,  by  the  continued  admission  of  free 
states,  threatened  to  destroy  this  preponderance  of  the  slave- 
holding  class,  and,  as  Giddings  later  said,  to  restore  the  political 
power  to  the  people. 

The  Free-Soilers  rejoiced  at  the  prospect  of  the  nationaliza 
tion  of  the  principle  of  liberty ;  but  the  Whigs  and  Democrats 
feared  that  this  triumph  would  result  in  the  destruction  of  the 
American  commonwealth.  The  extreme  proslavery  class  at 
the  South  vehemently  opposed  the  action  of  the  people  of 
California. 

Toombs  of  Georgia  said,  "If  by  your  legislation  you  seek  to 
drive  us  from  the  territories  of  California  and  New  Mexico 
(§  403),  purchased  by  the  common  blood  and  treasure  of  the 
whole  people,  ...  I  am  for  disunion."  The  southern  mem 
bers  greeted  this  declaration  with  loud  applause.  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  said,  "  Every  word  uttered  by  my  colleague  [Mr. 
Toombs]  meets  my  hearty  response."  The  next  year  (1850) 
Stephens  wrote,  "  We  have  ultimately  to  submit  or  fight."  It 
was  a  significant  fact  that  before  the  year  came  to  an  end 
a  secession  organ,  The  Southern  Press,  was  established  in 
Washington. 


1850]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        399 

412.  Clay's  Compromise  Measures  (1850).  Clay  now  came  for 
ward,  for  the  fourth  time,  in  his  favorite  character  of  the  "great 
peacemaker"  (§§  324,  326,  355).     He  asked  Congress  to  adopt 
his  famous   Compromise   Measures1    (January   29,    1850).     His 
purpose  was  to  conciliate  both  sections  and  all  political  parties 
in  order  to  preserve  the  Union.    He  offered  five  propositions: 
(i)  to  admit  California  as  a  free  state  ;  (2)  to  apply  Cass'  principle 
of  "Squatter  Sovereignty"   (§410)   to  New  Mexico  and  Utah, 
when  they  should  become  states.    This  provision  would  allow  them 
to  enter  the  Union,  with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  inhabitants 
should  demand ;   (3)  to  purchase  the  claim  which  Texas  made  to 
a  part  of  New  Mexico ;  (4)  to  abolish  the  slave  trade,  but  not 
slavery  itself,  in  the  District  of  Columbia;   (5)  to  pass  a  new  and 
more  efficient  fugitive-slave  act  (§§  257,  380)  for  the  protection 
of  southern  planters. 

413.  Debate   on   Clay's   Compromise   Measures   (January  29— 
September  30,  iSso).2   Webster,  Cass,  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
warmly  defended  Clay's  measures,  but  Seward,  Chase,  and  Hale 
denounced  them.    Calhoun  and  Jefferson  Davis  refused  to  accept 
them  for  the  South,  and  Benton  ridiculed  them  as  a  mere  "  com 
promise  plaster."    Davis  demanded  that  the  Missouri  Compromise 
line  of  36°  30'  (§  324)  should  be  extended  to  the  Pacific  and  that 
all  of  the  new  territory  below  that  line  should  be  open  to  slavery. 
This  concession,  he  said,  was  the  very  least  that  he  would  be  will 
ing  to  take.     Such  an  arrangement  would  have  given  the  South  a 
large  part  of  California,  nearly  the  whole  of  what  now  constitutes 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  together  with  a  corner  of  Nevada. 

Clay  replied,  "  Coming  from  a  slave  state,  as  I  do,  ...  no 
earthly  power  could  induce  me  to  vote  for  ...  the  introduction 
of  slavery  where  it  had  not  before  existed,  either  south  or  north 
of  that  line."3 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  78-83. 

2  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  I,  122-198;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  II,  742- 
780;  Johnston's  American  Orations  (Calhoun,  Webster,  Clay),  II,  123-218. 

3  See  Schurz's  Clay,  II,  333. 


400          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1850 

A  week  later,  Clay  spoke  for  two  days  (February  5-6), 
although  he  was  then  so  ill  that  he  could  not  ascend  the  steps 
of  the  capitol  without  help.  His  speech  was  an  appeal  to  the 
North  for  concession  and  to  the  South  for  peace.  When  he 
concluded  a  throng  of  men  and  women  crowded  around  him  to 
shake  hands  with  him  and  to  kiss  him.1 

The  hand  of  Death  rested  on  Calhoun ;  he  was  too  feeble  to 
address  the  Senate,  and  on  March  4  a  friend  read  his  speech 
for  him.  It  had  the  solemnity  of  a  funeral  oration.  The  great 
champion  of  slavery  (§354)  declared  that  if  the  North  desired 
to  save  the  Republic,  it  must  first  "  concede  to  the  South  an 
equal  right  in  the  acquired  territory,"  and  next  faithfully  enforce 
the  fugitive-slave  law  of  1793. 

Calhoun's  scheme  for  saving  the  Union  was  to  amend  the  Con 
stitution  and  provide  for  the  election  of  two  Presidents,  one  from 
the  free  and  the  other  from  the  slave  states.  Each  of  these 
Presidents  was  to  approve  all  acts  of  Congress  before  they  could 
become  laws.  This  "  double-headed "  government  might,  he 
thought,  preserve  peace  between  the  sections. 

The  following  day  he  said,  "  As  things  now  stand,  the  Southern 
States  cannot  remain  in  the  Union." 

Calhoun  saw  signs  of  coming  secession  not  only  in  the  political 
but  in  the  religious  situation.  The  southern  Methodists  and 
Baptists,  provoked  by  the  action  taken  by  northern  churches  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  had  split  off  (1845)  from  the  main  body  and 
formed  independent  organizations.  This  action  seemed  prophetic 
of  the  withdrawal  of  the  slaveholding  states  from  the  Union. 

Three  days  after  Calhoun  made  his  speech  in  the  Senate 
Webster  followed  with  his  celebrated  speech  of  the  yth  of  March, 
1850.  Again  and  again  the  great  New  England  statesman  had 
declared  his  unalterable  opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery; 
on  this  point  his  convictions  had  undergone  no  change  whatever, 
but  he  now  urged  the  necessity  of  conciliating  the  South  in 
order  to  preserve  the  Union.  He  argued  that  to  apply  the 
i  See  Schurz's  Clay,  II,  334-335. 


1850]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT       401 

Wilmot  Proviso  (§  404)  to  California  and  New  Mexico  would  not 
only  be  an  affront  to  the  southern  people  but  an  act  of  folly. 

Nature,  said  he,  has  effectually  shut  out  slavery  from  those 
regions,  and  Congress  is  not  called  upon  to  "  reenact  the  will  of 
God."  He  pleaded  for  the  cultivation  of  "  more  fraternal  sen 
timents  "  between  the  North  and  the  South.  "I  hear,"  said  he, 
"with  distress  and  anguish  the  word  '  secession.'  "  "There  can 
be  no  such  thing  as  peaceable  secession."  "  Disruption  must 
produce  war,  and  such  a  war  as  I  will  not  describe." 

Seward  spoke  on  March  1 1  as  the  champion  of  freedom ; 
he  denounced  all  attempts  at  compromise  with  slavery.  He 
declared  that  the  Constitution  devoted  the  public  domain  "  to 
union,  to  justice,  to  defense,  to  welfare,  and  to  liberty."  Then 
he  startled  his  hearers  by  adding,  "  But  there  is  a  higher  law 
than  the  Constitution,"  "  which  devotes  it  to  the  same  noble 
purpose." 

But  Seward's  belief  in  the  "  peaceful  extirpation  of  slavery  " 
through  the  gradual  working  of  economic  forces  and  the  progress  of 
humanitarian  sentiment  alarmed  the  South  as  much  as  Garrison's 
most  radical  utterances  (§§  353,  354).  The  people  of  that  section, 
whether  upholders  of  slavery  or  not,  dreaded  emancipation  in  any 
form.  They  were  convinced  that  if  the  negroes  should  gain  their 
freedom  they  would  swamp  the  South  by  their  numbers  and  drag 
civilization  down  to  the  depths  of  hopeless  barbarism. 

414.  The  "Omnibus  Bill";  Taylor's  death;  Sumner;  admis 
sion  of  California.  Early  in  May  (1850)  Clay's  Compromise  Meas 
ures  (§  412)  were  reported  in  the  form  of  a  bill,  which  carried 
so  many  provisions  that  it  got  the  name  of  the  "  Omnibus  Bill." 
This  bill  was  hotly  debated  for  the  rest  of  the  session.  Clay 
had  now  been  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  almost  day  after  day 
for  nearly  six  months  battling  for  compromise.  On  July  22  he 
made  his  closing  speech.  His  last  great  effort  was  an  impas 
sioned  plea  for  the  preservation  of  the  nation.  In  that  speech 
he  declared  that  if  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  should  raise 
the  standard  of  disunion,  as  he  threatened,  "  he  will  be  a  traitor, 


402          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1850 

and  I  hope  he  will  meet  the  fate  of  a  traitor."  In  closing  he 
added  :  "  If  Kentucky  to-morrow  unfurls  the  banner  of  resistance 
unjustly,  I  never  will  fight  under  that  banner.  I  owe  a  para 
mount  allegiance  to  the  whole  Union,  a  subordinate  one  to  my 
own  state."  In  the  end,  all  of  the  provisions  of  Clay's  Compro 
mise  Measures,  including  the  new  Fugitive- Slave  Act1  (§412), 
were  passed,  but  in  the  form  of  separate  bills,  before  the  end  of 
September,  1850.  This  great  compromise  averted  disunion  for 
the  time,  and  made  it  possible  for  the  Republic  to  continue  for 
another  decade  "half  slave  and  half  free."  Both  parties  now 
exultingly  declared  that  the  terrible  negro  question  was  "  finally 
settled."  But  a  meagerly  attended  convention  called  at  Nash 
ville,  Tennessee,  condemned  the  compromise  and  claimed  for  the 
South  the  right  of  secession. 

Meanwhile  President  Taylor  had  suddenly  died  (July  9,  1850) 
and  Vice  President  Fillmore  had  taken  the  executive  helm. 
Fillmore  made  Webster  Secretary  of  State,  and  Massachusetts 
chose  Charles  Sumner  to  succeed  him  in  the  Senate.  Sumner, 
though  an  uncompromising  champion  of  the  antislavery  cause, 
was  not  an  extreme  Abolitionist.  Speaking  of  his  office,  he  said 
to  his  constituents  :  "  I  accept  it  as  the  servant  of  the  Union, 
bound  to  oppose  all  sectionalism,  .  .  .  whether  in  unconstitu 
tional  efforts  by  the  North  to  carry  .  .  .  freedom  into  the  slave 
states  [or]  in  unconstitutional  efforts  by  the  South  to  carry  .  .  . 
slavery  into  the  free  states." 

In  the  autumn  of  1850  California  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as 
a  free  state.  This  made  the  whole  number  of  states  thirty-one,  — 
fifteen  for  slavery,  sixteen  for  free  soil.  There  could  be  little  doubt 
that  henceforth  the  free  states  would  hold  the  political  control. 

415.  Excitement  at  the  North  over  the  new  Fugitive-Slave  Act. 
The  excitement  at  the  North  over  the  passage  of  the  new  Fugi 
tive-Slave  Act  (§  414)  was  intense.  From  all  parts  of  the  free 
states  memorials  poured  in  upon  Congress.  They  condemned 
the  law  as  "  revolting  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  civilized  world," 
l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  82. 


1850-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT       403 

and  demanded  its  immediate  repeal.  The  Liberty  party  (§  383) 
proclaimed  the  statute  "utterly  null  and  void"  and  "no  part  of 
the  Constitution."  Giddings  of  Ohio  declared  that  the  execution 
of  such  a  law  was  worse  "than  ordinary  murder,"  and  that  no 
slaveholder  could  compel  the  freemen  of  his  state  to  turn  out  "  to 
chase  the  panting  fugitive."  On  the  other  hand,  Webster  said,  in 
a  speech  in  Boston,  that  the  antislavery  movement  was  based  on  a 
"  ghastly  abstraction,"  and  that  Massachusetts  must  get  rid  of  its 
"  local  prejudices." l  The  Abolitionists  denounced  Webster  for  up 
holding  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act.  They  called  him  "  cotton  hearted  " 
and  declared  him  a  traitor  to  New  England  and  to  liberty.  Whittier 
wrote  his  dirgelike  lines  of  "  Ichabod  "  to  lament  his  fall : 

From  those  great  eyes 

The  soul  has  fled; 
When  faith  is  lost,  when  honor  dies, 

The  man  is  dead. 

But  eight  hundred  leading  citizens  of  Boston  and  vicinity  came 
to  Webster's  defense.  They  signed  a  paper  thanking  him  for 
recalling  them  to  their  "duties  under  the  Constitution."  They 
accepted  his  declaration  that  if  the  North  refused  to  return  fugi 
tive  slaves,  "  the  South  would  no  longer  be  bound  to  observe  the 
compact"  of  the  Constitution;  and  that  "a  bargain  cannot  be 
broken  on  one  side  and  still  bind  the  other."  Ten  years  later, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  in  his  inaugural,  acknowledged  that  the  Consti 
tution  required  him  to  enforce  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law. 

416.  "Personal  Liberty  Laws";  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive- 
Slave  Act.  We  have  seen  that  the  first  Fugitive- Slave  Act  (1793) 
had  been  enforced  with  difficulty  (§§  257,  380).  Later,  several 
Northern  States  passed  "  Personal  Liberty  Laws" 2  forbidding  state 
officers  to  aid  in  the  enforcement  of  the  original  Fugitive-Slave 
Act  (§  257).  The  new  act  (1850)  (§  414)  roused  still  greater 

1  See  Schurz's  Clay,  II,  340.  2  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  73  ;  Hart's 

American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  IV,  Nos.  23-33;  Lalor's  Cyclopaedia,  III, 
162;  Von  Hoist's  United  States,  V,  65-70. 


404          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [isso- 

opposition.  In  the  course  of  the  next  ten  years  (1850-1860)  four 
teen  Northern  States  passed  laws  to  protect  negroes  claimed  as 
runaway  slaves.  These  statutes  generally  secured  to  such  negroes 
the  right  of  having  counsel  to  defend  them,  the  right  to  testify  in 
their  own  behalf,  and  the  right  of  trial  by  jury ;  all  of  which  privi 
leges  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act  of  1850,  like  that  of  1793,  denied. 

The  South  complained  that  these  laws  "  were  intended  to  nullify 
an  act  of  Congress,  and  that  they  violated  the  Constitution." 

Rufus  Choate  echoed  this  sentiment,  saying  in  Boston,  The 
return  of  fugitive  slaves  was  an  insignificant  sacrifice  on  the  altar 
of  the  Union,  as  compared  to  the  hecatombs  to  be  sacrificed 
through  civil  convulsions.1 

So  far  as  the  actual  number  of  fugitives  was  concerned,  the  loss 
to  the  South  was  small.  In  1850  only  one  thirtieth  of  one  per  cent 
of  the  slave  population  escaped,  and  by  1860  it  had  fallen  much 
lower.  Southern  estimates,  however,  represented  the  total  number 
of  fugitives  living  in  the  North  at  30,000,  valued  at  $15,000,000. 

Long  before  the  passage  of  the  new  law  the  Abolitionists  had 
organized  a  regular  system  of  escape  for  negroes  who  had  suc 
ceeded  in  entering  the  free  states.  The  "  Underground  Railroad  " 
consisted  of  a  chain  of  stations,  —  private  houses  about  a  day's 
journey  apart,  —  and  the  fugitives  were  hurried  along  from  station 
to  station  until  they  reached  Canada. 

Under  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act  of  1850  more  seizures  were  made 
than  in  all  the  previous  sixty  years.  Thomas  Sims  (1851)  and 
Anthony  Burns  (1854)  were  carried  back  from  Boston.  A  des 
perate  attempt  was  made  to  rescue  Burns,  and  one  man  was  killed. 
The  files  of  armed  soldiers  who  conveyed  him  to  the  wharf  were 
greeted  with  mingled  cheers,  hisses,  and  groans,  and  they  had  to 
pass  beneath  a  national  flag  draped  in  mourning  and  suspended, 
union  down,  across  State  Street.  The  determined  resistance  to 
the  law  made  the  cost  of  returning  the  fugitives  something  enor 
mous.  In  several  instances,  notably  that  of  "  Shadrach,"  in  Boston 
(1851),  and  "  Jerry,"  in  Syracuse,  New  York,  the  negroes  were 

l  See  Woodburn's  Political  Parties,  64. 


1852-]       THE    UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        405 

rescued ;  and  at  Christiana,  Pennsylvania,  a  slaveholder  and  his 
son  were  killed  in  their  attempt  to  seize  an  alleged  fugitive.  These 
cases  showed  that  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  enforce  the 
obnoxious  act  on  a  broad  scale. 

417.  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin";  Helper's  "Impending  Crisis"; 
the  Hungarian  Revolution.  In  the  spring  of  1852  two  national 
political  conventions,  representing  the  two  chief  parties,  met  to 
take  action.  They  solemnly  pledged  themselves  to  resist  all 
attempts  to  renew  the  discussion  of  slavery  "  whenever,  however, 
and  wherever  made." 

Just  at  that  time  Mrs.  Stowe  published  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 
She  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  antislavery  principles,  but  not  a 
declared  Abolitionist.  She  bore  no  hatred  to  the  South.  She  wrote 
rather  in  sorrow  than  in  anger,  her  only  object  being,  as  she  said,  to 
make  her  countrymen  "  feel  what  an  accursed  thing  slavery  is." 

Garrison  declared  that  her  book  "  would  take  the  world  by 
storm."  He  was  right.  In  eight  weeks  100,000  copies  were  sold 
in  the  United  States,  and  that  was  only  the  beginning ;  within  a 
year  a  million  copies  were  sold  in  England,  and  the  story  was  soon 
translated  into  every  European  language.  Mrs.  Stowe's  work  was 
the  direct  fruit  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act,  and  it  struck  slavery  a 
blow  from  which  it  never  recovered. 

Five  years  later  (1857),  another  remarkable  book  appeared  on 
the  same  subject ;  this  was  Helper's  "  Impending  Crisis."  The 
author  was  a  North  Carolinian  and  a  "poor  white."  He  did  not 
profess  to  be  a  friend  to  the  negro,  but  attacked  slavery  mainly  on 
economic  grounds.  He  dedicated  his  work  to  the  "  nonslave- 
holding  whites  "  of  the  South ;  his  object  was  to  show  by  solid 
facts  and  figures  that  the  system  paid  no  one  except  the  "  Lords 
of  the  Lash  "  who  upheld  it.  He  declared  that  the  enforced  labor 
of  the  black  man  was  a  curse  to  the  section  where  it  existed,  espe 
cially  to  the  "  poor  whites." 

Helper's  book  had  a  very  large  sale,  and  three  years  later  (1860) 
the  Republican  party  circulated  it  by  thousands  as  a  campaign 
document, 


406          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1852 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Louis  Kossuth  endeavored  to 
establish  the  independence  of  Hungary.  American  sympathy 
for  Kossuth  found  expression  in  Webster's  striking  letter  to 
Hiilsemann  (1850),  and  in  the  grand  reception  given  to  the 
Hungarian  patriot  when  he  came  to  the  United  States  as  the 
nation's  guest.1 

418.  National  political  conventions;  the  presidential  election 
(1852).  The  Democratic  National  Convention  (1852)  adopted  a 
"strict-construction"  (§  256)  platform.  It  upheld  the  Kentucky 
and  Virginia  state  sovereignty  nullification  resolutions  of  1792  and 
1798  (§  273),  and  pledged  the  support  of  the  party  to  the  Com 
promise  Measures  of  1850,  and  to  the  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive- 
Slave  Law  (§§  412,  414).  The  convention  nominated  Franklin 
Pierce,  the  second  "dark  horse"  (§383),  for  President,  and 
William  R.  King  for  Vice  President. 

The  Whig  National  Convention  met  soon  afterward  ;  it  adopted 
a  carefully  worded  "broad-construction"  (§  256)  platform,  and 
accepted  the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  with  the  Fugitive- 
Slave  Law  (§§412,  414).  It  passed  by  Webster  and  nominated 
General  Scott  (§  396)  for  the  presidency.  The  great  New  Eng 
land  statesman  had  hoped  to  secure  the  nomination,  and  he  died 
broken-hearted  a  few  months  later. 

The  Free-Soil  Democratic  National  Convention  adopted  a  plat 
form  which  declared  that  the  government  has  "no  more  power 
to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a  king."  It  repudiated  the  Com 
promise  Measures  of  1850,  including  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law 
(§§  412,  414).  It  proclaimed  :  "  No  more  slave  states  ;  no  slave 
territory  ;  no  nationalized  slavery ;  and  no  national  legislation  for 
the  extradition  of  slaves."  The  Free-Soilers  nominated  John  P. 
Hale  for  the  presidency. 

Pierce  gained  a  sweeping  victory.     He  received  254  electoral 
votes  to  42   cast  for  Scott;  the  popular  vote  stood   1,601,474 
for  Pierce,  and  1,386,578  for  Scott.     Hale,  the  candidate  of  the 
Free-Soil  Democrats,  received  a  popular  vote  of  156,149, 
1  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  I,  205,  233. 


1852-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT       407 

Before  the  year  1852  closed  Calhoun,  Webster,  and  Clay  were 
in  their  graves.  Sumner  and  Jefferson  Davis  were  soon  to  stand 
face  to  face  in  the  United  States  Senate  as  leading  combatants 
in  the  "irrepressible  conflict"  between  slavery  and  freedom. 

419.  Rise  of  the  "Know-Nothing"  party;  death  of  the  Whig 
party.    Between  1849  and  1852  immigration  (§374)  had  increased 
enormously,  the  arrivals  at  our  ports  averaging  nearly  a  thousand 
a  day.     Hostility  to  the  political  influence  of  this  army  of  new 
settlers,  and  especially  to  all  Roman  Catholic  foreigners,  gave  rise 
to  a  secret  oath-bound  fraternity  which  took  for  its  watchword 
the  cry,  "Americans  must  rule  America."    This  organization  de 
veloped  into  the  political  party  (1852)  of  the  "Order  of  United 
Americans." 

The  members  were  popularly  called  "  Know  Nothings,"  because 
when  questioned  they  invariably  professed  that  they  knew  noth 
ing  of  the  party  or  its  objects.  The  "Know  Nothings"  gener 
ally  selected  their  candidates  from  rival  political  tickets,  and  for 
some  years  they  met  with  great  success  in  state  elections.  They 
required  that  those  for  whom  they  voted  should  be  native-born 
citizens ;  that  they  should  declare  their  entire  devotion  to  the 
national  and  state  constitutions ;  and  that  they  should  explicitly 
disclaim  allegiance  to  any  "  foreign  prince,  potentate,  or  power." 

They  furthermore  demanded  "  a  continued  residence  of  twenty- 
one  years  as  an  indispensable  requisite  for  citizenship,"  and 
resolved  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  national  government  to  pro 
hibit  the  landing  of  foreign  paupers  and  criminals  on  our  shores. 
The  chief  power  of  the  American  party  was  exerted  between 
1850  and  1856;  it  then  gradually  declined. 

After  the  presidential  election  of  1852  the  Whig  party  (§§  256, 
341)  went  to  pieces.  It  was  humorously  said  that  "  it  died  of  an 
effort  to  swallow  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law."  Many  Whigs  joined 
the  "Know  Nothings,"  and  after  the  organization  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  (1854-1856)  great  numbers  were  absorbed  by  it. 

420.  Summary.    The  chief  events  of  the  Taylor  and  Fillmore 
administration  were  :   (i)  the  discussion   in   Congress    over   the 


408          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY 

admission  of  California  as  a  free  state  ;  (2)  the  adoption  of  Clay's 
Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  including  the  application  of  the 
principle  of  "Squatter  Sovereignty"  and  the  passage  of  a  new 
Fugitive-Slave  Act ;  (3)  the  enactment  by  some  Northern  States 
of  "  Personal  Liberty  Laws,"  and  the  publication  of  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin"  and  Helper's  "  Impending  Crisis"  ;  (4)  the  death 
of  three  great  political  leaders,  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  Clay,  fol 
lowed  by  the  decline  and  disappearance  of  the  Whig  party  and  by 
the  rise  of  the  short-lived  American,  or  "  Know-Nothing,"  party. 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE  (DEMOCRAT),  ONE  TERM  (1853-1857) 

421.  Pierce' s  inaugural;  the  first  American  "World's  Fair." 
In  his  inaugural  address  President  Pierce  (§418)  spoke  explicitly 
on  the  slavery  question.  He  said,  "  I  believe  that  involuntary 
servitude  as  it  exists  in  different  states  of  this  Confederacy  is 
recognized  by  the  Constitution"  (§415).  "I  hold  that  the 
laws  of  1850,  commonly  called  the  'Compromise  Measures' 
(§§412,  414),  are  strictly  constitutional,  and  to  be  unhesitat 
ingly  carried  into  effect."  Later,  in  his  first  message,  he  de 
clared  that  those  measures  "  had  restored  a  sense  of  repose  and 
security  to  the  public  mind."  Perhaps  he  owed  this  conviction 
to  the  fact  that  the  slavery  question  had  kept  itself  in  the  back 
ground  for  a  brief  period  while  America  took  part  in  an  inter 
national  exhibition. 

In  the  summer  of  1853  the  President  opened  the  first  "World's 
Fair  "  held  in  the  United  States,  in  the  "  Crystal  Palace,"  in  New 
York.  The  foreign  department  was  noted  for  its  large  and  valu 
able  collection  of  works  of  art.  The  American  department  took 
the  front  rank  in  the  variety  of  its  wood-working  machinery  and 
agricultural  implements.  Nothing  could  equal  the  excellence  of 
the  work  done  by  the  improved  planing  machines,  the  lathes  for 
turning  gunstocks  and  similar  irregular  forms,  and  the  machinery 
for  manufacturing  barrels,  pails,  and  other  hollow  ware. 


1853-1854]     THE  UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    409 

Our  reapers  and  mowers  (§  366),  horserakes,  hay  tedders,  and 
"  cultivators "  had  revolutionized  farming.  With  one  of  these 
machines  and  the  aid  of  a  pair  of  horses  a  man  could  easily  do 
the  work  of  twenty-five  hand  laborers.  These  inventions,  which 
have  since  been  greatly  improved  (§  595),  saved  enormous  quan 
tities  of  grass  and  grain  that  would  have  been  lost  for  lack  of  men 
to  harvest  them.  An  acre  of  oats  could  be  cut  in  less  than  half 
an  hour,  and  an  acre  of  hay  spread  in  about  the  same  time. 

Secretary  Seward  said  that  these  agricultural  implements  were 
pushing  the  line  of  civilization  westward  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
miles  a  year.  In  that  way  they  had  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
economic  progress  of  the  American  Republic. 

422.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.  In  the  great  debate  on  the 
Compromise  Measures  of  1850  (§412)  Senator  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  of  Illinois,  popularly  known  as  the  "  little  giant  of  the 
West,"  successfully  advocated  the  application  of  "  Squatter  Sov 
ereignty"  (§§410,  412)  to  New  Mexico  and  Utah  when  they 
should  be  admitted  as  states.  Douglas  claimed  that  Clay's  meas 
ures  of  1850  (§  412)  had  repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise  of 
1820  (§  324).  In  January,  1854,  while  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Territories,  he  determined  to  make  an  effort  to  extend  the 
principle  of  "  Popular  Sovereignty,"  as  he  called  it,  to  the  unor 
ganized  region  comprised  in  the  Louisiana  purchase  of  1803 
(§  280).  This  section  lay  west  of  the  states  of  Missouri,  Iowa, 
and  Minnesota  territory.  It  was  called  the  Platte,  or  Nebraska, 
Country.  It  was  crossed  by  a  wagon  road  to  the  Pacific,  and  as 
it  was  north  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  of  36°  30'  (§  324), 
slavery  was  "  forever  "  excluded  from  it.  It  had  been  proposed 
that  this  country  should  be  set  apart  as  a  reservation  for  the 
Indians.  Douglas  had  long  been  trying  to  defeat  that  project 
and  to  have  it  erected  into  a  territory  in  order  that  it  might  be 
opened  to  settlement. 

The  bill,1  as  Senator  Douglas  finally  presented  it  (January  23, 
1854),  provided  that  the  Platte  Country  should  be  divided  into 
1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  84-88. 


410          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1854 

two  parts ;  the  northern  portion,  which  lay  west  of  the  free  state 
of  Iowa,  was  to  be  organized  as  the  territory  of  Nebraska,  and 
the  southern  portion,  lying  west  of  the  slave  state  of  Missouri, 
was  to  be  organized  as  the  territory  of  Kansas.  The  fourteenth 
section  of  the  bill  repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise  (§  324) 
by  declaring  it  henceforth  "  inoperative  and  void."  The  avowed 
purpose  of  the  Kansas- Nebraska  Bill  was  "  not  to  legislate  slavery 
into  any  territory  or  state,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to 
leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate 
their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

A  separate  clause  in  the  bill  expressly  provided  that  the 
Fugitive-Slave  Act  (§§  412,  414)  should  be  enforced  in  the  two 
proposed  territories. 

Senator  Douglas  declared  that  his  sole  object  in  advocating 
the  measure  was  to  take  the  discussion  of  the  slavery  question 
out  of  Congress  and  hand  it  over  to  the  people  of  the  states  and 
territories  for  settlement.  Such  a  policy,  he  believed,  would 
preserve  peace  and  maintain  the  Union  in  its  integrity. 

423.  Debate  on  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill;  northern  opposition. 
The  proposition  to  repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise  (§  324)  and 
to  apply  the  principle  of  "Popular  Sovereignty"  (§  422)  to  Kan 
sas  and  Nebraska  startled  the  whole  country  like  a  thunderbolt 
from  a  clear  sky.  No  bill  was  ever  introduced  into  the  Senate 
which  gave  rise  to  more  excited  debate.1  Sumner  vehemently 
protested  against  the  removal  of  the  "  landmarks  of  freedom." 
Wade  raised  his  voice  against  giving  slavery  a  chance  to  enter  a 
territory  "as  large  as  all  the  free  states,  pure  as  Nature,  and 
beautiful  as  the  Garden  of  God."  Benton  denounced  Douglas' 
proposition  as  a  "  see-saw  bill,  .  .  .  the  up-and-down  game  of 
politicians."  Seward  declared  that  the  fate  of  the  Republic  hung 
on  this  measure.  "  Its  success  or  defeat,"  said  he,  "  will  decide 
whether  slavery  shall  go  on  increasing  in  influence  over  the  cen 
tral  power  here,  or  whether  freedom  shall  gain  the  ascendency." 

1  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  I,  425-500 ;  Johnston's  American  Orations,  III,  3-50. 


1854]         THE  UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        411 

Edward  Everett  presented  a  protest  against  the  bill,  signed  by 
more  than  three  thousand  New  England  clergymen.  The  "  Inde 
pendent  Democrats  "  in  Congress  drew  up  an  appeal  against  the 
proposed  law.  Referring  to  the  section  which  was  intended  to 
repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise  (§  324),  they  denounced  it  as 
"a  gross  violation  of  a  sacred  pledge,"  and  as  part  of  "  an  atro 
cious  plot  to  exclude  from  a  vast  unoccupied  region  immigrants 
from  the  old  world  and  free  laborers  from  our  own  states,  and 
convert  it  into  a  dreary  region  of  despotism  inhabited  by  masters 
and  slaves."  Chase,  Sumner,  Giddings,  and  Gerrit  Smith  joined 
in  signing  the  paper. 

424.  Southern  feeling  about  the  bill.    The    southern  members 
of   Congress   at   first   manifested  little  interest   in   the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill.     Bell  of  Tennessee  said  that  every  southern  sen 
ator  with  whom  he  had  spoken,  excepting  Toombs  of  Georgia, 
regretted  this  attempt  to  wipe  out  a  line  which  had  preserved  the 
peace  of  the  country  for  thirty  years.     He  added,  however,  that 
since  the  North  had  introduced  the  bill,  the  South  would  not  vote 
against  it.     Houston  of  Texas  implored  the  Senate,  for  the  sake 
of  the  Union,  not  to  repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise.     Cullom 
of  Tennessee  declared  that  its  repeal  would  repudiate  "  the  faith 
and  honor  of  the  South,  plighted  by  the  act  of  1820." 

But  Jefferson  Davis  and  Senator  Toombs,  representing  the 
extreme  class  popularly  known  as  "  fire  eaters,"  condemned  the 
Missouri  Compromise  as  unjust  to  the  South.  They,  with  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens,  welcomed  its  repeal  by  a  bill  which  virtually 
denied  the  power  of  Congress  to  legislate  respecting  slavery  in 
the  territories.  They  insisted  that  the  Constitution  gave  slave 
holders,  in  common  with  other  owners  of  property,  the  right  to 
take  their  negroes  into  any  part  of  the  public  domain ;  then, 
when  the  settlers  framed  a  state  constitution,  they  could  decide 
whether  it  should  be  slave  or  free. 

425.  Seward's  attitude;  excitement  at  the  North;  passage  of 
the    Kansas-Nebraska    Bill    (1854)  ;    results.    When   it    became 
apparent  that  a  majority  of  southern  members  would  vote  for 


412 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


[1854 


the  bill,  Seward  exclaimed  :  "  Come  on  then,  gentlemen  of  the 
slave  states,  since  there  is  no  escaping  your  challenge,  I  accept 
it  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  freedom.  We  will  engage  in  com 
petition  for  the  soil  of  Kansas,  and  God  give  the  victory  to  the 
side  which  is  stronger  in  numbers  as  in  right."  The  debate  on 
the  bill  raged  for  nearly  five  months.  During  that  time  the 
North  was  seething  with  indignation,  and  mass  meeting  after 


TERRITORY  OPENED  TO  SLAVERY  BY  THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA 
ACT  OF  1854 

The  "Compromise  Measures"  of  1850  opened  Utah  and  New  Mexico  to  slavery 
when  they  should  be  admitted  as  states  (see  §  422).  Oregon  was  free  territory 
by  act  of  Congress  of  1848  (see  §  391) 

mass  meeting  protested  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  Act  (§  324). 

The  opponents  of  Senator  Douglas  branded  him  as  an  enemy 
to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  of  free  soil.  The  demonstrations 
against  him  were  so  violent  that  he  said,  "  I  could  travel  from 
Boston  to  Chicago  by  the  light  of  my  own  burning  effigies."  The 
bill  passed  the  House  (May  22,  1854)  by  a  vote  of  113  to  100; 


1854-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT       413 

Douglas  closed  the  great  debate  in  the  Senate  by  a  speech  which 
lasted  until  the  small  hours  of  the  morning.  The  bill  was  then 
passed  without  division  (May  26,  1854)  by  a  vote  of  35  to  13. 
The  southern  Democrats  and  Whigs  voted  for  it ;  half  of  the 
northern  Democrats  were  for  it  and  half  against  it;  while  the 
northern  Whigs  and  Free-Soilers  all  opposed  it.  The  President 
strongly  favored  the  bill  and  promptly  signed  it  (May  30,  1854). 
The  opponents  of  the  measure  condemned  it  as  the  greatest 
political  blunder  in  American  history. 

In  the  autumn  Douglas  spoke  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  in  defense  of 
his  bill.  Referring  to  his  opponents,  he  said  sarcastically,  "  The 
white  people  of  Nebraska  are  good  enough  to  govern  themselves, 
but  they  are  not  good  enough  to  govern  a  few  miserable  negroes." 
Lincoln  replied,  "  No  man  is  good  enough  to  govern  another  man 
without  that  other's  consent."1 

The  new  Congress  that  met  the  next  year  (1855)  held  the 
stormiest  session  ever  recorded.  The  struggle  to  elect  a  Speaker 
lasted  nine  weeks ;  members  ate  and  slept  at  their  desks.  Banks 
of  Massachusetts  had  said  in  a  recent  speech  that  rather  than  do 
anything  to  extend  slavery  he  would  let  the  Union  "  slide."  2  His 
election  to  the  Speakership  was  therefore  regarded  as  a  victory  of 
the  free  states  over  the  consolidated  power  of  the  slave  states. 
Elaine  in  his  "Twenty  Years  of  Congress"  says,  "It  marked  an 
epoch." 

The  Kansas- Nebraska  Act  had  three  momentous  results  :  (i)  By 
repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act  (§  324)  and  establish 
ing  the  principle  of  "Popular  Sovereignty"  (§422)  in  the  two 
Territories  north  of  36°  30'  it  opened  a  new  battle  ground  between 
the  forces  of  slavery  and  freedom.  (2)  It  gave  the  finishing 
blow  to  the  expiring  Whig  party  (§419),  and  shaped  the  wedge 
which  later  (1860)  split  the  Democratic  party  into  a  northern 
and  a  southern  section;  the  first  upheld  "Popular  Sovereignty"; 
the  second  was  determined,  at  any  cost,  to  force  slavery  into 

1  See  Lincoln's  Works,  1,195. 

2  See  Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  V,  215. 


4I4  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1854. 

all  the  territories.  (3)  It  united  all  "anti-Nebraska"  men  at 
the  North  in  a  new  political  organization  which  subsequently 
(1854)  took  the  name  of  the  Republican  party.  The  Repub 
licans,  unlike  the  Democrats  or  the  Whigs,  had  no  adherents  at 
the  South.-  They  were  sectional  in  the  sense  that  freedom  was 
sectional,  and  they  pledged  themselves  to  use  all  constitutional 
means  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery. 

426.  The  six  years' struggle  for  Kansas1  (1854-1859);  "Sons 
of  the  South  "  against  "  Free-State  men."  No  sooner  was  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  signed  (§425)  than  companies  of  "Sons  of 
the  South  "  rushed  in  to  seize  the  territory  and  open  it  to  slavery. 
The  planters  of  Missouri  engaged  in  this  movement  as  an  act  of 
self- preservation.  They  held  nearly  100,000  negroes,  and  they 
believed  that  if  Kansas  should  enter  the  Union  as  a  free  state 
their  human  property  would  speedily  take  to  its  legs  and  cross 
the  border.  Senator  Atchison  of  Missouri  said  that  a  horde  of 
western  savages  would  be  less  formidable  neighbors  than  a  popu 
lation  of  Abolitionists.  The  proslavery  men  who  entered  the 
territory  at  once  took  possession  of  large  tracts  of  land  and 
planted  the  towns  of  Atchison,  Leavenworth,  and  Lecompton. 
They  warned  intending  emigrants  from  the  free  states  not  to 
endeavor  to  enter  Kansas  through  Missouri. 

The  "  Free-State  men  "  acted  with  equal  energy.  In  expec 
tation  of  the  passage  of  the  Kansas- Nebraska  Bill,  Eli  Thayer 
of  Massachusetts  organized  the  "  New  England  Emigrant  ;\id 
Society"  to  send  out  colonists  to  Kansas.  This  society  received 
the  hearty  encouragement  of  Amos  A.  Lawrence  of  Boston  and 
other  prominent  eastern  men,  who  helped  to  furnish  it  with  the 
"  sinews  of  war."  The  society  dispatched  the  first  band  of  emi 
grants  in  the  summer  of  1854.  The  total  number  sent  out  by 
them  in  the  course  of  the  crusade  was  about  three  thousand, — 
all  men,  and  voters ;  before  they  reached  Kansas  this  number 
was  probably  doubled.  The  pioneer  colony  from  Boston  planted 
the  town  of  Lawrence  ;  subsequently  bands  of  "  Free-State  men  " 
i  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  98-166,  215,  278-299. 


1854-1855]     THE   UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    415 

planted  Topeka  and  Osawatomie.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  declared 
that  in  a  contest  with  the  slaveholders  of  Kansas  the  New  Eng- 
lander's  rifle  was  a  greater  moral  agency  than  the  Bible. 

These  settlers  from  the  East  were  strongly  opposed  to  the  spread 
of  slavery,  but  they  had  no  intention  of  attacking  it  in  the  states 
where  it  was  already  established.  Garrison's  Liberator  (§  353), 
speaking  of  the  New  England  emigrants,  said  that  "  hardly  a 
single  Abolitionist  could  be  found  among  all  who  went." 

But  among  those  who  emigrated  from  New  York  and  Ohio 
there  were  at  least  six  Abolitionists  of  the  most  radical  stamp. 
One  of  them  was  destined  to  make  his  name  and  exploits  known 
throughout  the  world.  These  six  men  were  John  Brown,  a 
descendant  of  Pilgrim  stock,  and  his  five  sons.  They  settled  in 
or  near  Osawatomie,  and  "  Old  John  Brown,"  as  he  was  famil 
iarly  called,  soon  became  a  power  in  that  region.  He  went  out, 
gun  in  hand,  determined,  as  he  said,  to  "  kill  American  slavery." 

The  "  Sons  of  the  South"  denounced  the  "Free- State  men" 
as  "  Black  Republicans  "  ;  the  "  Free-State  men  "  retorted  by 
calling  their  adversaries  "  Border  Ruffians."  The  excited  feeling 
naturally  led  to  acts  of  violence  which  threatened  to  end  in 
bloodshed. 

427.  The  Kansas  elections ;  the  rival  constitutions ;  Congres 
sional  report.  At  the  first  election  of  a  delegate  to  Congress 

(1854)  a  large  force  of  Missourians  armed  with  rifles  and  bowie 
knives  entered  the  Territory  and  elected  a  proslavery  candidate. 
The  next  spring  (1855)  a  second  body  of  Missourians,  five  thou 
sand  strong,  led  by  Senator  Atchison,  crossed  the  border  into 
Kansas  and  elected  a  Territorial    Legislature,   which    not   only 
adopted  the  entire  slave  code  of  Missouri  but  strengthened  it  by 
the  addition  of  numerous  death  penalties. 

The  Free-State  settlers  repudiated  this  "bogus  legislation," 
and  elected  an  antislavery  delegate  to  Congress.  In  the  autumn 

(1855)  they  held  a  convention  at  Topeka,  framed  a  state  consti 
tution  prohibiting  slavery,  set  up  a  rival  government,  and  applied 
for   admission    to    the   Union,   but  without  success.     Then    the 


416        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1855-1856 

Proslavery  party  met  at  Pawnee  and  framed  a  state  constitution 
to  suit  themselves ;  but  the  people  of  the  Territory  rejected  it. 

The  next  year  (1856)  Congress  sent  out  a  special  committee 
of  three  (W.  W.  Howard  of  Michigan,  John  Sherman  of  Ohio, 
and  Mordecai  Oliver  of  Missouri)  to  investigate  the  Kansas 
troubles.  The  first  two  members  of  the  committee  reported  : 
(i)  that  the  Territorial  elections  had  been  "carried  by  organized 
invasions  from  the  state  of  Missouri";  (2)  "that  the  alleged 
Territorial  (proslavery)  Legislature  was  an  illegally  constituted 
body  "  ;  (3)  that  no  delegate  to  Congress  had  been  elected  "  in 
pursuance  of  law";  (4)  that  in  the  present  condition  of  the 
Territory  a  fair  election  could  not  be  held  unless  "  United  States 
troops  "  should  be  present  "  at  every  place  of  election."  The 
third  member  of  the  committee  made  a  separate  report  dissenting 
from  that  of  the  majority.1 

Meanwhile  four  governors  of  the  Territory  had  resigned.  They 
went  out  as  proslavery  men,  but  their  experiences  in  Kansas  had 
converted  them  to  "  Free-State  men." 

428.  Civil  War  in  Kansas.  The  national  government  sent 
out  troops  to  guard  the  polls,  but  civil  war  broke  out.  The 
greater  part  of  the  actual  settlers  desired  peace,  but  bands  of 
marauders  —  Free-State  "  Jayhawkers  "  and  Slave-State  "Border 
Ruffians"  —  burned  farmhouses,  broke  up  settlements,  pillaged 
towns,  and  committed  numerous  murders.  One  act  of  violence 
provoked  another  until  the  Territory  became,  in  sober  truth, 
"  Bleeding  Kansas."  Lawrence  was  twice  besieged  and  once 
burned ;  Osawatomie,  Pottawatomie,  and  Leavenworth  were 
attacked  and  partially  destroyed.  Each  side  suffered ;  each 
made  the  other  suffer.  The  motto  was,  "  War  to  the  knife  and 
the  knife  to  the  hilt." 

"  Old  John  Brown  "  shot  or  cut  down  a  number  of  proslavery 
men  in  cold  blood  at  Pottawatomie  (1856)  and  made  raids  into 
Missouri  for  the  purpose  of  liberating  negroes..  The  other  side 
retaliated  with  interest  and  killed  two  to  one  in  the  massacre  at 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  90. 


1856-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        417 

Marais  des  Cygnes  (1858).  But  this  last  outrage  was  an  isolated  , 
act,  and  fortunately  this  frightful  state  of  ^anarchy  was  practically 
over  by  1857.  The  "  Free-State  men"  had  come  to  stay;  and 
as  they  gradually  increased  in  numbers,  they  obtained  the  politi 
cal  control  and  rejected  the  proslavery  constitution1  framed 
(1857)  by  a  convention  at  Lecompton  and  recommended  to 
Congress  by  Buchanan.2 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  denounced  the  action  of  this  convention 
in  a  powerful  speech  in  the  Senate.  He  said  :  "  It  is  none  of 
my  business  which  way  the  slavery  clause  is  decided.  I  care  not 
whether  it  is  voted  down  or  voted  up ;  ...  but  if  this  Lecompton 
constitution  is  to  be  forced  down  our  throats  in  violation  of  the 
fundamental  principle  of  free  government,  ...  I  will  resist  it 
to  the  last."  3 

The  next  year  a  Free-State  Convention  met  at  Wyandotte 
(July  5,  1859)  and  adopted  a  new  constitution,  which  prohibited 
slavery.  This  was  ratified  by  the  people,  and  was  later  (1861) 
accepted  by  a  Congress  from  which  the  southern  members  had 
withdrawn  to  engage  in  that  stupendous  civil  war  destined  to 
overthrow  slavery  forever.  Out  of  her  population  of  100,000 
Kansas  contributed  no  less  than  20,000  men  to  the  ranks  of  the 
Union  army. 

429.  Assault  on  Senator  Sumner.  While  the  western  troubles 
were  at  their  height  Senator  Sumner  delivered  a  powerful  speech 
in  Congress  (May  19,  20,  1856)  on  the  "  Crime  against  Kansas."  4 
He  denounced  the  "  tyranny,  imbecility,  absurdity,  and  infamy  " 
of  those  who  were  endeavoring  to  fasten  negro  bondage  on  the 
free  soil  of  western  territories.  In  the  course  of  his  speech  he 
attacked  Senator  Butler  of  South  Carolina,  and  held  him  up  to 
ridicule  as  a  half-crazed  old  man  completely  infatuated  with  the 
charms  of  slavery. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  92. 

2  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  285,  291. 
8  See  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  II,  124. 

4  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  III,  88. 


418          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1856- 

Two  days  later,  Preston  S.  Brooks,  a  nephew  of  Senator  Butler 
and  a  representative  from  South  Carolina,  made  an  assault  on 
Sumner  while  he  was  sitting  at  his  desk  in  the  Senate  chamber. 
Brooks  struck  him  blow  after  blow  over  the  head  with  a  loaded 
cane  until  his  victim  fell  senseless  and  bleeding  to  the  floor. 
Senator  Sumner's  injuries  were  so  serious  that  he  had  to  withdraw 
from  political  life  for  several  years. 

Massachusetts  kept  his  seat  for  him  in  the  Senate  until  he 
resumed  it  (1859),  not  long  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War.  Brooks  resigned,  but  was  presented  with  a  new  cane  by  his 
admiring  constituents,  and  was  triumphantly  reflected.  Jefferson 
Davis  warmly  commended  Brooks,  but  Seward  said,  "  The  blows 
that  fell  on  the  head  of  the  senator  from  Massachusetts  have  done 
more  for  the  cause  of  human  freedom  than  all  its  friends  have 
ever  accomplished  in  Congress." 

430.  Treaties  with  Japan  and  China ;  the  Ostend  Manifesto. 
While  the  Kansas  question  was  agitating  the  whole  country  our 
foreign  relations  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  policy  and 
welfare  of  the  nation. 

Under  the  previous  administration  Commodore  Perry  was  sent 
out  in  command  of  a  squadron  to  endeavor  to  negotiate  a  treaty 
with  Japan.  The  ports  of  that  "  Land  of  Great  Peace,"  once 
partially  open  to  the  Dutch,  had  been  closed  to  the  entire  world 
for  more  than  two  centuries.  Perry  succeeded  in  reopening  the 
barred  doors,  and  by  his  tact,  firmness,  and  diplomatic  skill 
secured  a  favorable  treaty  (1854). 

This  treaty  prepared  the  way  for  full  international  intercourse 
with  the  foremost  people  of  the  East,  and  led  to  a  treaty  of  com 
merce  (1858).  Japan  is  now  proud  to  acknowledge  that  she  owes 
her  recent  remarkable  progress  in  western  civilization  and  her 
present  position  among  Oriental  nations  in  great  measure  to  Perry's 
success  and  to  the  introduction  of  American  inventions  and 
American  educational  influences.  Fourteen  years  later,  Anson 
Burlingame  negotiated  (1868)  an  important  treaty  with  China, 
under  which  that  nation  for  the  first  time  officially  accepted  the 
principles  of  international  law. 


1854-1856]     THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT    419 

The  failure  of  the  South  to  secure  fresh  territory  for  slavery 
extension  on  the  Pacific  Coast  (§§411,  414)  led  to  attempts, 
on  their  part,  to  get  possession  of  Cuba.  Filibustering  expedi 
tions  sailed  from  New  Orleans  (1850,  1851)  for  the  purpose  of 
exciting  a  revolution  in  that  island ;  they  accomplished  nothing, 
however,  but  their  own  destruction.  Fillmore,  who  was  then 
President,  issued  a  proclamation  condemning  these  "wicked 
schemes"  and  warning  citizens  of  the  United  States  against  taking 
part  in  them.  Later,  the  government  endeavored  to  purchase 
the  much-coveted  island,  but  all  offers  were  rejected.  Meanwhile 
reports  were  circulated  that  the  Cuban  negroes  were  plotting  to 
establish  a  free  black  Republic  on  the  plan  of  San  Domingo. 
This  rumor  made  the  South  all  the  more  anxious  to  get  posses 
sion  of  a  country  that  might  otherwise  become  a  menace  to  slave 
holders  in  the  cotton  states. 

James  Buchanan,  our  minister  to  England,  met  with  our  min 
isters  to  France  and  Spain  at  Ostend  (1854)  to  discuss  the  ques 
tion  of  the  acquisition  of  Cuba.  They  united  in  signing  the 
Ostend  Manifesto.1  They  declared  in  that  document  that  if 
Spain  persisted  in  her  refusal  to  sell  Cuba,  and  if  our  peace 
should  thereby  be  endangered,  we  should  be  justified  by  every 
law,  human  and  divine,  in  seizing  the  island. 

431.  National  presidential  conventions;  the  election  (1856). 
The  " Know-Nothing"  party  (§419)  held  their  National  Con 
vention  early  in  1856.  The  delegates  adopted  a  platform  which 
declared  that  none  but  Americans  should  rule  America,  and 
demanded  that  foreigners  should  be  refused  naturalization  until 
they  had  resided  in  the  United  States  for  twenty-one  years. 
The  only  plank  in  the  platform  relating  to  slavery  was  one  which 
condemned  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  (§425). 
The  convention  nominated  Millard  Fillmore  for  President. 

The  Democratic  Convention  met  in  June  (1856).  It  adopted 
a  "strict-construction"  (§  256)  platform,  reaffirmed  its  indorse 
ment  of  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions  of  1798-1799 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  89. 


420  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1856- 

(§§  273,  418),  denounced  the  principles  of  the  "  Know- Noth 
ing  "  party,  pledged  itself  to  resist  all  agitation  of  the  slavery 
question  "  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,"  indorsed  the  Fugitive- Slave 
Law  and  the  Kansas- Nebraska  Act  (§  425),  asked  for  the  con 
struction  of  military  and  postal  roads  to  the  Pacific,  and  declared 
that  the  United  States  must  control  the  highway  across  the  Isth 
mus  of  Panama.  The  convention  nominated  James  Buchanan, 
our  late  minister  to  England  (§  430),  for  the  presidency. 

The  Republican  party  (§  425)  led  by  Seward  held  their  con 
vention  about  midsummer  (1856).  The  delegates  adopted  a 
"broad-construction"  (§  256)  platform.  They  approved  of  the 
government's  encouraging  "internal  improvements"  (§285), 
especially  the  building  of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific.  They  de 
nounced  the  Ostend  Manifesto  (§  430)  as  "  the  highwayman's  plea 
that  'might  makes  right '  ";  they  strongly  condemned  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  (§425)  and  urged  the  prompt  admis 
sion  of  Kansas  (§428)  as  a  free  state. 

They  took  decided  ground  with  respect  to  the  power  of  the 
national  government  over  the  territories,  resolving  that  it  was 
both  "  the  right  and  the  duty  of  Congress  "  to  prohibit  "  tnose 
twin  relics  of  barbarism,  polygamy  and  slavery,"  throughout 
the  national  domain.  For  President  they  nominated  John  C. 
Fremont  (§  400).  His  nomination  was  condemned  by  his  oppo 
nents  as  a  purely  sectional  act,  —  one  in  which  the  free  states 
alone  were  interested.  Rufus  Choate  denounced  the  Republicans 
as  "  the  new  geographical  party,"  and  added  that  their  success 
would  put  "  the  Union  in  danger."  Governor  Wise  and  other 
leading  men  at  the  South  openly  declared  that  Fremont's  election 
would  cause  "certain  and  immediate  disunion." 

The  Whigs,  in  an  expiring  effort,  issued  a  platform  which  con 
demned  all  "  geographical  parties,"  but  which  said  nothing  about 
slavery.  They  nominated  Millard  Fillmore  (§414)  for  President. 

The  Democrats  elected  James  Buchanan  President,  with  J.  C. 
Breckenridge  Vice  President.  The  electoral  vote  stood  174  for 
Buchanan  to  114  for  Fremont  and  8  for  Fillmore;  the  popular 


1857]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT       421 

vote   stood   1,838,169   for  Buchanan  to   1,341,264  for  Fremont 
and  874,534  for  Fillmore. 

432.  Summary.    The  principal  events  of  Pierce's  administra 
tion  were  :   (i)  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  repeal 
ing   the    Missouri    Compromise    and    applying    the   principle   of 
"  Popular  Sovereignty  "  to  the  settlement  of  the  question  of  slav 
ery  extension  in  those  territories;   (2)  the  struggle  between  the 
North  and  the  South  for  the  possession  of  Kansas ;   (3)  the  rise 
of  the  Republican  party ;   (4)  the  opening  of  the  first  American 
World's  Fair,  the  treaty  with  Japan,  the  attempts  of  the  govern 
ment  to  purchase  Cuba,  and  the  Ostend  Manifesto. 

JAMES  BUCHANAN  (DEMOCRAT),  ONE  TERM  (1857—1861) 

433.  The  Dred  Scott  Case.    Two  days  after  Buchanan's  (§431) 
inauguration  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  delivered 
its  decision  (March  6,  1857)  in  the  celebrated  Dred  Scott  case. 

Scott  was  a  negro  slave  living  in  the  slave  state  of  Missouri. 
His  master  took  him  with  him  to  Illinois  (1834),  and,  after 
residing  there  for  two  years,  removed  with  his  property  to  the 
territory  then  called  Upper  Louisiana,  —  now  Minnesota.  Two 
years  later  (1838),  Scott's  owner  took  him  back  to  Missouri  and 
there  sold  him  to  a  Mr.  Sandford. 

Scott  denied  Sandford's  legal  right  to  hold  him  in  bondage  and 
brought  suit  for  his  liberty  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  the  district  of  Missouri.  He  took  the  ground  that  his 
residence  in  the  free  state  of  Illinois,  and  in  a  territory  in  which 
slavery  was  expressly  prohibited  by  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act 
(§  324),  had  made  him  a  free  man. 

The  Court  decided  in  Sandford's  favor  ;  thereupon  Scott  carried 
the  case  by  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

434.  Decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.1   That  tri 
bunal,  five  of  whose  judges  were  from  slave  states,  undertook  to 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  91 ;  Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  251 ;  Nico- 
lay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  II,  ch.  iv,  v ;  Howard's  Report  of  the  Dred  Scott  Decision. 


422  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1857 

pass  judgment  on  two  questions  :  (i)  Is  Dred  Scott  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  as  such  entitled  to  bring  suit  in  the 
United  States  courts  ?  (2)  Did  Scott's  residence  for  several 
years  on  free  soil  render  him  free  ? 

In  delivering  the  decision  of  the  Court,  'Chief  Justice  Taney, 
who  had  been  a  slaveholder,  but  had  freed  his  slaves,  took  occasion 
to  review  the  history  of  the  negro  race  in  America.  He  declared 
that  when  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  adopted 
"  negroes  had  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to 
respect."  "It  is  absolutely  certain,"  said  he,  "  that  the  African 
race  was  not  included  under  the  name  of  citizens  of  a  state  by 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution." 

Coming  to  the  first  of  the  questions  under  consideration,  the 
Court  decided  that  "  Dred  Scott  was  not  a  citizen  of  Missouri 
within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
not  entitled  as  such  to  sue  in  its  courts."  The  delivery  of  this 
opinion  really  ended  the  case,  but  the  Court  now  took  up  the 
second  question  which  had  been  raised,  namely,  Scott's  claim 
to  freedom  because  he  had  resided  for  a  time  in  a  free  state  and 
later  in  a  free  territory.  On  this  point  it  decided  (i)  that  Scott 
did  not  acquire  freedom  by  his  residence  in  Illinois ;  and  (2) 
"that  the  act  of  Congress  (of  1820)  which  prohibited  a  citizen 
from  holding  and  owning  "  slaves  "  in  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  north  of  the  line  (36°  30')  therein  mentioned  is  not  war 
ranted  by  the  Constitution,  and  is  therefore  void." 

The  eight  associate  justices,  with  the  exception  of  Judge 
Curtis 1  of  Massachusetts  and  Judge  McLean  of  Pennsylvania, 
concurred  in  the  opinion  delivered  by  the  Chief  Justice. 


1  In  his  very  able  dissenting  opinion,  Judge  Curtis  held  that  the  political  history 
of  the  country  proved:  (i)  that  when  the  Constitution  was  adopted  free  negroes, 
though  born  of  slave  parents,  had  in  numerous  cases  possessed  the  full  rights  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States ;  (2)  that  in  no  less  than  eight  distinct  instances 
(1787-1848)  Congress  had  excluded  slavery  from  the  territory  of  the  United  States; 
(3)  that  slavery,  being  contrary  to  national  right,  is  created  only  by  municipal  law, 
and  that  the  Constitution  does  not  provide  for  its  existence  in  the  territories.  See 
Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  257-260. 


423 


424          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1857- 

435.  Effect  of  the  Dred  Scott  Decision.  This  decision,  which 
was  as  much  political  as  judicial,  pronounced  by  the  highest 
tribunal  of  the  nation,  created  consternation  at  the  North.  The 
most  that  the  Kansas- Nebraska  Act  (§422)  had  done  was  to 
throw  open  a  certain  limited  territory  to  slavery,  provided  a 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  desired  it;  but  now  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  solemnly  declared  that  every  slave 
holder  at  the  South  had  the  same  constitutional  right  to  take  his 
negroes  into  any  part  of  the  public  domain  that  he  had  to  take 
his  horses  or  his  cattle  there  (§  322). 

The  Senate  ordered  20,000  copies  of  Chief  Justice  Taney's 
opinion  to  be  printed  for  general  circulation.  Senator  Douglas 
stumped  Illinois,  and  in  his  defense  of  Taney  said  that  the 
Republicans  wanted  to  vote  with  the  negroes,  eat  with  the 
negroes,  and  marry  the  negroes.  Lincoln  replied,  "  In  some 
respects  the  negro  is  not  my  equal,  but  in  his  natural  right  to  eat 
the  bread  he  earns  with  his  own  hands  without  asking  leave  of 
any  one  he  is  my  equal  and  the  equal  of  all  others." 

A  great  number  of  the  people  of  the  free  states  now  became 
convinced  that  "  party  spirit  had  taken  possession  of  the  Court  in 
the  interest  of  slavery."  Seward  boldly  declared,  "We  shall 
reorganize  the  Court  and  thus  reform  its  political  sentiments." 
Many  persons  expressed  the  fear  that  the  supreme  tribunal  of  the 
country  was  preparing  to  affirm  that  negro  bondage  was  not  local 
but  national.  This  conviction  added  enormously  to  the  strength 
of  the  newly  organized  Republican  party  (§425),  which  pledged 
itself  to  resist  all  encroachments  of  the  slave  power  on  free  soil 
(§§  425,  431).  On  the  other  hand,  the  exultant  South  found  in 
the  hostile  attitude  of  this  army  of  northern  voters  fresh  justifica 
tion  for  threats  of  disunion. 

Later  (1859),  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  indorsed  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  by  a  vote  of  35  to  21.  Thus  encouraged,  the  Ter 
ritory  of  New  Mexico  proceeded  to  establish  slavery  (§412) 
although  Webster  had  ridiculed  the  idea  as  impossible  (§413). 
Furthermore,  the  decision  stimulated  the  illicit  importation  of 


1857]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        425 

negroes  to  such  an  extent  that  Stephen  A.  Douglas  said  there  was 
evidence  that  no  less  than  15,000  kidnapped  Africans  had  been 
smuggled  into  southern  ports  in  iSsS.1  The  general  effect  of  the 
Dred  Scott  decision  was  to  embolden  those  who  advocated  slavery 
extension,  but  to  irritate  and  alarm  the  friends  of  freedom,  and  to 
widen  the  breach  between  North  and  South. 

436.  The  financial  panic  of  1857.  To  add  to  the  excitement 
caused  by  political  questions,  a  financial  panic 2  now  swept  over 
the  country.  In  August  (1857)  the  "  Ohio  Life  and  Trust  Com 
pany"  of  Cincinnati  failed  for  $7,000,000.  An  investigation 
showed  that  the  managers  had  lost  the  entire  capital  in  stock 
gambling.  The  failure  compelled  many  banks  in  New  York  to 
suddenly  reduce  their  loans ;  this  caused  a  general  financial 
crash.  Business  was  in  great  measure  paralyzed,  and,  with  three 
exceptions,  the  banks  throughout  the  country  suspended  specie 
payments.  Many  great  railway  and  manufacturing  corporations 
found  it  impossible  to  meet  their  obligations ;  cotton  dropped 
from  sixteen  cents  a  pound  to  nine;  and  the  receipts  of  the 
national  government  fell  below  its  expenditures. 

The  panic  spread  and  "  a  wave  of  bankruptcy  swept  round  the 
civilized  world."  Well  qualified  judges  believed  that  it  was 
caused  by  overspeculation  resulting  from  the  enormous  produc 
tion  of  gold  by  the  mines  of  California  and  Australia.  On  the 
other  hand,  Senator  Elaine,  and  the  protectionists  generally,  main 
tained  that  the  chief  cause  of  the  panic  was  the  reduction  of  reve 
nue  resulting  from  the  lowered  tariffs  of  1846  and  1857  (§  404). 
But  though  the  crisis  was  sharp,  it  was  short,  and  so  far  as  the 
United  States  was  concerned,  it  was  only  "  a  bad  stumble  in  a 
career  of  great  prosperity."  The  country  generally  was  in  a  sound 
condition  and  the  crops  were  abundant.  This  favorable  condition 
of  things  enabled  the  banks  to  resume  specie  payments  before  the 
end  of  the  year,  but  while  business  recovered  in  considerable 
measure,  long  years  of  depression  continued. 

1  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  369 ;  Du  Bois'  African  Slave  Trade. 

2  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  262. 


426          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1859- 

437.  Discovery  of  silver,  petroleum,  and  natural  gas.  While  the 
country  was  recovering  from  the  effects  of  the  financial  depres 
sion  a  remarkable  discovery  was  made  (1859)  on  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  Sierras,  in  what  is  now  the  state  of  Nevada.  Some 
miners  digging  in  that  region  came  to  a  layer  of  strange-looking 
earth.  A  bystander,  named  Comstock,  exclaimed  when  he  saw  it, 
"  You  have  struck  it,  boys  ! "  They  had,  in  fact,  struck  what  proved 
to  be  the  great " Bonanza"  silver  mines.  Comstock  controlled  the 
only  spring  of  water  which  could  be  used  for  working  the  mines ; 
for  this  reason  he  was  admitted  to  share  in  the  good  luck. 

Up  to  this  time  no  silver  worth  mentioning  had  been  found 
in  the  United  States ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  next  twenty  years 
(1859-1879)  ore  to  the  amount  of  more  than  $300,000,000  was 
taken  from  the  Comstock  lode. 

Nevada,  however,  was  not  to  remain  our  only  source  of  supply 
for  silver.  Rich  deposits  of  that  metal  were  discovered  (1876) 
at  Leadville,  Colorado,  and  later  in  Utah  and  Arizona. 

By  1873  the  world's  output  of  silver  had  doubled  in  quantity. 
Twenty  years  later,  the  total  product  had  risen  from  an  average 
of  less  than  $38,000,000  in  1859  to  more  than  $198,000,000  in 
1892,  —  an  increase  of  over  four  hundred  per  cent.  In  1859 
the  United  States  contributed  to  this  output  only  the  compara 
tively  insignificant  sum  of  $100,000;  in  1892  (the  year  of  the 
largest  yield  from  our  mines)  it  contributed  more  than  $82,000,- 
ooo.  In  1859  the  average  market  price  of  bar  silver  was  nearly 
$1.25  per  ounce;  by  1892  it  had  fallen  to  less  than  80  cents 
per  ounce. 

The  same  summer  (1859)  that  the  "Bonanza"  mines  were 
found  a  remarkable  discovery  was  made  in  western  Pennsyl 
vania.  Professor  Silliman  of  Yale  University  had  suggested  the 
practicability  of  using  petroleum  as  an  illuminator,  and  a  com 
pany  was  formed  to  bore  wells  for  it.  "  Colonel "  E.  L.  Drake 
bored  well  after  well  with  no  better  result  than  to  sink  the  capital 
of  the  company  that  employed  him  and  his  own  funds  besides. 
His  money  and  credit  were  both  exhausted,  and  no  one  cared 


1859-]       THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        427 

to  trust  this  "  petroleum  crank,"  as  he  was  called,  for  even  a 
sack  of  flour. 

On  the  morning  of  August  28,  1859,  Drake  went  back  to  his 
work  near  Titusville  hungry  and  penniless.  That  morning  he 
"  struck  oil."  Wild  speculation  followed  his  success ;  thousands 
of  wells  were  bored  in  all  parts  of  the  "  oil-creek  "  region,  some 
of  which  yielded  from  100  to  2000  barrels  of  petroleum  a  day. 

Oil  was  afterward  found  in  Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  New  York, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Missouri,  Texas,  and  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

In  1865  the  "pipe-line"  system  of  conveying  oil  from  the 
wells  was  begun  on  a  small  scale.  Since  then  about  2  5 ,000  miles 
of  pipe  have  been  laid.  Petroleum  is  now  carried  in  this  way  as 
far  east  as  New  York  and  as  far  west  as  Chicago.  These  rivers 
of  oil  not  only  supply  the  enormous  home  demand  but  furnish 
enough  for  exportation  besides,  the  value  of  the  quantity  sent 
abroad  during  the  last  thirty- five  years  averaging  more  than 
$45,000,000  annually,  and  the  total  export  value  from  1864  to 
1904  exceeding  $1,500,000,000. 

About  fifteen  years  after  the  discovery  of  petroleum  a  well  of 
natural  gas  was  struck  near  Pittsburg.  The  escaping  gas  ran  to 
waste  for  a  number  of  years  before  capitalists  could  be  induced 
to  invest  in  it.  The  gas  has  since  been  found  in  Indiana  and 
some  other  parts  of  the  West,  and  it  is  used  to  furnish  light,  heat, 
and  power  in  houses  and  manufacturing  establishments,  and  for 
street  lamps  in  some  cities. 

438.  The  "Mormon  rebellion";  the  Mountain  Meadows  mas 
sacre;  Kansas  ;  Yancey's  "  Scarlet  Letter."  Three  years  after  the 
Mormons  settled  in  Salt  Lake  Valley  (§  372),  Congress  organized 
the  Territory  of  Utah  (1850)  and  President  Fillmore  appointed 
Brigham  Young  governor.  He  declared  in  a  public  discourse 
(1853)  that  he  would  continue  to  hold  the  office,  in  spite  of  any 
orders  to  the  contrary,  until  the  Almighty  should  say,  "  Brigham, 
you  need  not  be  governor  any  longer." 

The  federal  judges  in  Utah  accused  the  Mormon  leaders  of 
obstructing  the  administration  of  justice  and  of  burning  the  court 


428          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1858- 

records.  The  Mormons  retorted  that  the  judges  were  men  of 
corrupt  character.  President  Buchanan  appointed  (1857)  Alfred 
Gumming,  a  "Gentile,"  to  supersede  Young,  and  sent  General 
Harney  with  2500  troops  to  sustain  the  authority  of  the  new 
governor. 

The  Mormons  attacked  Harney's  wagon  trains,  destroyed  a 
large  part  of  his  supplies,  and  prevented  the  troops  from  enter 
ing  the  valley  until  the  spring  of  1858. 

In  another  quarter  Bishop  Lee  and  several  other  Mormons  led 
a  band  of  Indians  against  a  party  of  emigrants  who  were  crossing 
Utah  on  their  way  to  California  and  massacred  them  at  Moun 
tain  Meadows  (1857).  Twenty  years  later,  Lee  was  arrested  and 
convicted  of  having  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  massacre.  He 
confessed  his  guilt  and  was  executed  (1877)  on  the  very  sP°t 
where  the  crime  was  perpetrated. 

When  Harney's  "  Army  of  Utah  "  entered  Salt  Lake  Valley 
(1858)  they  found  the  "city  of  the  saints"  deserted.  Had  the 
troops  attempted  to  occupy  the  Mormon  "  Zion,"  Brigham  Young 
would  have  burned  it,  as  the  Russians  did  Moscow  when  Napo 
leon  captured  it.  In  -this  dilemma  President  Buchanan  decided 
to  issue  a  proclamation  of  pardon  to*  the  Mormons  on  condition 
that  they  should  obey  the  federal  laws,  and  Governor  Gumming 
persuaded  the  inhabitants  of  Salt  Lake  City  to  return ;  thus  the 
threatened  war  was  averted. 

But  though  the  outbreak  in  Utah  was  settled,  the  Kansas 
troubles,  described  earlier  (§  428),  dragged  on.  Buchanan  threw 
his  influence  on  the  side  of  making  it  a  slave  state  (§§  428,  439) ; 
but  it  was  not  until  Minnesota  (1858)  and  Oregon  (1859)  had 
entered  the  Union  that  Kansas  was  admitted  (1861)  as  the  thirty- 
fourth  state,  with  a  free  state  constitution. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  in  the  West  the  excitement 
over  slavery  in  the  South  showed  no  signs  of  abating.  William  L. 
Yancey,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Alabama  slaveholders,  published 
(1858)  his  famous  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  foreshadowing  secession.  He 
urged  the  organization  of  "  committees  of  safety  "  to  "  fire  the 


1858-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        429 

southern  heart,"  and  at  "  the  proper  moment "  to  "  precipitate 
the  cotton  states  into  a  revolution."  Later,  Jefferson  Davis  told 
the  people  of  his  own  state  that  if  an  Abolitionist  should  be 
chosen  President  in  1860,  they  ought  to  provide  for  their  safety 
"  outside  the  Union." 

439.  The  Lincoln-Douglas  campaign  and  joint  debates.1  In  the 
summer  of  1858  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  nominated  Abraham 
Lincoln  (§  394)  as  their  candidate  for  United  States  senator. 
Lincoln's  opponent  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas  (§  422),  the  great 
champion  of  "  Popular  Sovereignty."  Judge  Douglas,  whose  term 
in  the  Senate  was  about  to  expire,  had  the  enthusiastic  support 
of  the  Democratic  party  in  his  state.  He  had  also  gained  many 
warm  friends  among  the  Republicans  by  the  prominent  stand  he 
had  taken  in  defeating  the  Lecompton,  or  proslavery,  constitu 
tion  (§  428),  which  he  accused  the  administration  of  attempting 
to  force  upon  the  people  of  Kansas.2 

In  such  a  political  duel  for  office  the  "  little  giant  of  the 
West"  (§  422)  seemed  to  possess  every  advantage.  More  than 
this,  Lincoln  made  an  opening  speech  at  Springfield  (June  16, 
1858),  which  most  of  his  warmest  friends  condemned  as  suicidal. 
He  began  by  bringing  the  slavery  question  directly  to  the  front. 
"  'A  house  divided  against  itself,'  "  said  he,  "  '  cannot  stand.'  I 
believe  this  government  cannot  permanently  endure  half  slave  and 
half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved,  I  do  not 
expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be 
divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other."  3 

In  his  reply  Douglas  said,  "  Lincoln  goes  for  a  war  of  sec 
tions  until  one  or  the  other  shall  be  subdued  •  I  go  for  the  great 

1  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  313-339  ;  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  II,  ch.  viii, 
ix;  Brown's  Life  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

'2  At  the  next  Congress  (1859-1860)  two  Democratic  members  of  the  House  accused 
the  President  of  having  corruptly  attempted  to  secure  their  votes  for  the  Lecompton 
bill.  A  committee,  with  Covode  of  Pennsylvania  as  chairman,  investigated  the  charge. 
The  Republican  majority  on  that  committee  found  the  President  guilty;  the  Demo 
cratic  minority  found  nothing  against  him.  No  action  was  taken  on  the  report.  This 
was  known  as  the  "Covode  Investigation." 

8 See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  III,  168. 


430          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1858- 

principle  of  the  Kansas- Nebraska  Bill  (§  422),  —the  right  of  the 
people  to  decide  for  themselves."  x 

Later  in  the  summer,  Lincoln  challenged  Douglas  to  meet  him 
in  a  series  of  seven  joint  debates  held  out  of  doors.  The  people 
of  Illinois  turned  out  by  tens  of  thousands  to  enjoy  this  gladia 
torial  contest.  They  greeted  the  combatants  with  bonfires,  music, 
and  the  wildest  demonstrations  of  delight. 

At  Freeport,  Lincoln,  hoping  to  corner  his  antagonist  between 
the  Dred  Scott  decision  and  "  Popular  Sovereignty,"  which  were 
apparently  utterly  opposed  to  each  other,  asked  the  question, 
Can  the  people  of  a  territory  in  any  lawful  way,  against  the  wish 
of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  exclude  slavery  prior  to  the 
formation  of  a  state  constitution?  Douglas,  true  to  "Popular 
Sovereignty,"  answered,  Yes.2  This  reply  pleased  the  North,  but 
angered  the  South,  which  ardently  upheld  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
(§§  434,  435).  Douglas  secured  the  senatorship,  but  lost  the 
southern  vote  for  the  presidency  in  1860.  Lincoln  had  fallen  in 
the  race,  but  he  had  fallen  up  hill,  not  down,  and  when  he  rose 
he  was  on  the  path  to  the  White  House. 

Late  in  October  (1858),  Senator  Seward  spoke  at  Rochester 
on  the  struggle  between  freedom  and  slavery.  He  declared  it 
"  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  opposing  and  enduring  forces." 
"  It  means,"  said  he,  "  that  the  United  States  must  and  will  become 
either  entirely  a  slaveholding  nation  or  an  entirely  free-labor 
nation."  3  These  last  words  seemed  an  echo  of  Lincoln's  famous 
speech  made  several  months  earlier. (§  439)- 

440.  The  John  Brown  raid  (i859).4  The  next  year  the  whole 
country  was  startled  by  the  report  that  John  Brown, —  "  Old  John 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  III,  184. 

2  In  his  reply  Douglas  virtually  admitted  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  (§§  434, 
435)  carried  slavery  into  the  territories  independent  of  the  will  of  the  people ;  but 
he  contended  that  slavery  could  not  continue  to  exist  there,  even  for  an  hour,  unless 
supported  by  local  legislation.     Hence,  he  said,  the  whole  question  really  rested  with 
the  majority  of  the  settlers  in  the  territories,  since  they  could  vote  it  down  or  up.    This 
reply  constituted  what  became  known  as  the  "  Freeport  Doctrine." 

8  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  III,  195. 
*  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  II,  384-416. 


1859-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        431 

Brown  of  Osawatomie  "  (§  426),  — with  eighteen  followers,  had 
captured  (October  16,  1859)  the  arsenal  and  engine  house  at 
Harpers  Ferry,  Virginia.  Two  days  later,  the  news  came  that 
Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee  (§  397),  with  a  company  of  marines, 
had  taken  Brown  and  several  of  his  companions  prisoners,  but 
only  after  a  hard  fight  in  which  a  number  of  persons  had  been 
killed. 

The  attack  on  Harpers  Ferry  was  not  a  sudden  impulse,  but 
the  result  of  along-meditated  plan.  Brown  had  resolved  to  strike 
American  slavery  a  fatal  blow,  and  he  struck  it  in  the  state  where 
it  originated  (§  44).  Gerrit  Smith  of  New  York  and  a  few  Massa 
chusetts  Abolitionists  reluctantly  furnished  the  funds  and  the  arms 
for  the  rash  expedition  which  they  spoke  of  among  themselves  as 
"  a  little  speculation  in  wool." 

On  his  trial  Brown  was  convicted  of  treason  and  murder.  He 
declared  that  he  had  not  intended  to  commit  either  crime,  but 
only  "  to  free  slaves."  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson  commanded  a  mili 
tary  company  on  guard  at  Brown's  execution  (1859).  "He 
behaved,"  said  he,  "  with  unflinching  firmness."  "  I  sent  up  the 
petition  that  he  might  be  saved." 

Six  of  Brown's  followers  were  executed  later.  Emerson  spoke 
of  John  Brown  as  "  that  new  saint  "  who  "  will  make  the  gallows 
glorious  like  the  cross";  but  Lincoln  and  the  Republican  party 
generally  strongly  condemned  the  Harpers  Ferry  invasion. 

The  affair  threw  the  South  into  an  uproar.  When  Congress 
assembled  ex-President  Tyler  of  Virginia  said,  "  But  one  senti 
ment  pervades  the  country,  —  security  in  the  Union  or  separation." 
A  Senate  Committee  reported  that  the  invasion  "was  simply 
the  act  of  lawless  ruffians  under  the  sanction  of  no  public  or 
political  authority";  but  notwithstanding  that  assurance,  the 
gulf  between  North  and  South  appeared  to  have  widened.  Just 
before  his  execution  John  Brown  declared  that  the  negro  ques 
tion  could  never  be  settled  save  by  the  "  shedding  of  blood." 
He  was  right ;  in  less  than  two  years  after  his  death  at  Charles- 
town,  Virginia  (now  West  Virginia),  a  Massachusetts  regiment, 


432          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1860- 

on  its  way  to  the  defense  of  the  Union,  marched  through  that 
place  (1862)  singing: 

John  Brown's  body  lies  a-moldering  in  the  grave, 
But  his  soul  goes  marching  on. 

441.  The  national  political  conventions  of  1860.  Near  the  end 
of  February,  1860,  Lincoln  delivered  his  Cooper  Institute  address 
in  New  York.  In  opposition  to  Douglas,  he  contended  that  "our 
fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution"  of  the  United  States 
gave  the  federal  government  full  power  to  control  slavery  in  the  ter 
ritories.1  Not  quite  two  months  later,  the  Democratic  Convention 
met  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  adopted  a  platform  reaf 
firming  the  principles  laid  down  in  their  platform  of  1856  (§  431), 
thus  indorsing  "  Popular  Sovereignty  "  (§  422),  thereby  fully  recog 
nizing  "  the  right  of  the  people  of  all  the  territories'7  "  to  form  a 
constitution  with  or  without  domestic  slavery."  The  southern  dele 
gates  hoped  that  the  convention  would  explicitly  sustain  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  (§  434),  which  declared  the  territories  open  to  slav 
ery  independent  of  the  will  of  the  people.  But  the  most  that  the 
northern  delegates  would  concede  was  a  resolution  that  the  party 
would  "  abide  by  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  on  the  questions  of  constitutional  law." 

The  southern  delegates  expressed  their  disappointment  by 
seceding.  Later,  they  organized  a  convention  of  their  own, 
affirmed  the  principles  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  nom 
inated  John  C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  and  Joseph  Lane  of 
Oregon  for  the  presidency  and  vice  presidency.  Meanwhile 
the  remaining  delegates  of  the  original  Charleston  Convention 
nominated  Stephen  A.  Douglas  (§§  422,  439)  for  President  and 
Herschel  V.  Johnson  of  Georgia  for  Vice  President.  Alexander 
H.  Stephens  of  Georgia  thought  that  this  split  in  the  Democratic 
party  was  the  forerunner  of  civil  war.  He  said,  "  Men  will  be 
cutting  one  another's  throats  in  a  little  while." 

The    "  Constitutional    Union    party,"    composed    mainly    of 

1  See  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln.  II,  ch.  xii. 


OA/-^^  <W^<s*d<s(sL' 

/h 
V 


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JW, 

L/^.&- 


4 


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v     (y 


From  Frank  B.  Sanborn's  "  Life  of  John  Brown,"  by  permission  of  the  Author. 


i860-]       THE   UNION,   NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        433 

"Know  Nothings"  (§  419)  and  "Old  Whigs"  (§  419),  adopted 
a  platform  which  did  not  mention  slavery,  but  simply  pledged 
the  party  to  maintain  "  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  the 
union  of  the  states,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws."  They 
nominated  John  Bell  of  Tennessee  and  Edward  Everett  of  Massa 
chusetts  ;  hence  the  name  "  Bell  and  Everett  party." 

The  Republican  Convention  met  in  Chicago.  They  adopted  a 
platform  which  denounced  "  threats  of  disunion  "  as  an  "avowal 
of  contemplated  treason";  they  branded  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
(§  434)  as  "  a  dangerous  political  heresy  ";  they  recognized  "  the 
right  of  each  state"  "to  control  its  own  domestic  institutions," 
but  rejected  "Popular  Sovereignty"  (§  422)  by  denying  "the 
authority  of  Congress,  of  a  Territorial  Legislature,  or  of  any  indi 
viduals  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  territory  of  the 
United  States."1 

Finally,  amid  the  cheers  and  yells  of  ten  thousand  excited  men, 
they  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois  (§  439)  and  Han 
nibal  Hamlin  of  Maine  for  President  and  Vice  President.  This 
choice  disappointed  the  friends  of  Seward  who  had  labored  for 
his  nomination.  Furthermore,  it  did  not  satisfy  the  extreme 
Abolitionists.  Wendell  Phillips  was  especially  bitter  at  the  selec 
tion  of  Lincoln  and  publicly  denounced  him  as  "  the  slave  hound 
of  Illinois."  2 

Jefferson  Davis  had  said  at  the  beginning  of  1 860  that  unless 
more  slave  states  could  be  added,  slavery  would  be  overthrown 
within  less  than  twenty  years.3  Leading  southern  men  now 
declared  that  Lincoln,  like  Fremont  (§  431),  was  a  "  sectional 
candidate,"  supported  only  by  a  "  sectional  party,"  and  that  they 
would  never  "  submit  to  a  *  Black  Republican'  President."  The 
Republicans  disclaimed  all  hostility  to  the  South,  but  affirmed 
that  it  was  slavery  that  was  "  sectional,"  and  that  the  spirit  of 


1  See  Stanwood's  The  Presidency,  and  McKee's  Conventions,  106-120,  on  these 
three  platforms. 

2  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  II.  473. 

3  See  Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  VII,  116. 


434          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [i860 

American  institutions  demanded  freedom  in  the  territories  for  the 
best  interests  of  all. 

442.  The  election  of  Lincoln  (1860).  From  the  outset  it  was 
evident  that  if  zeal  could  elect  the  Republican  candidate  he  was 
sure  of  success.  "  Wide-Awake  Clubs,"  dressed  in  uniform  and 
carrying  flaring  torches,  marched  nightly  through  every  northern 
city  and  town,  making  the  streets  ring  with  their  campaign 
songs.  These  parades  foreshadowed  the  marches  to  the  battle 
field  in  which  men  of  all  parties  were  soon  to  take  part.  The 
governor  of  South  Carolina,  believing  that  Lincoln's  election 
would  give  slavery  "a  fatal  blow,"  sent  a  circular  letter  to  the 
governors  of  the  other  cotton  states  declaring  that  his  state  stood 
ready  to  secede  in  case  the  Republicans  won  the  day. 

At  the  election  (1860)  Lincoln  received  180  electoral  votes 
(but  not  one  in  the  slave  states),  Breckenridge  72  (but  not  one 
in  the  free  states),  Bell  39,  and  Douglas  12.  The  popular  vote 
stood  1,866,452  for  Lincoln;  849,781  for  Breckenridge ;  588,879 
for  Bell;  and  1,376,957  for  Douglas.  The  Republicans  failed  to 
gain  a  majority  in  either  branch  of  Congress  ;  hence  their  hands 
were  tied  in  that  body. 

443.  Action  of  South  Carolina;  Buchanan's  message;  feeling 
at  the  North ;  Stephens'  speech ;  the  Crittenden  Compromise. 
The  news  of  Lincoln's  election  (1860)  was  received  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  "with  long-continued  cheering  for  a  Southern 
Confederacy,"  and  the  Legislature  summoned  a  convention  to 
decide  the  question  of  secession. 

In  his  annual  message  (1860)  President  Buchanan  declared  : 
(i)  that  no  state  had  the  constitutional  right  to  secede,  and 
quoted  General  Jackson's  words  (§  355)  with  approval;  (2)  that 
the  federal  government  would  take  measures  to  hold  the  forts 
and  other  property  of  the  United  States  in  South  Carolina; 
(3)  but  he  added  that  the  government  had  no  constitutional 
power  "to  coerce  a  state." 

The  action  of  South  Carolina  was  a  surprise  to  the  North. 
Many  northern  men  urged  that  immediate  concessions  should  be 


1860]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        435 

made  to  prevent  separation ;  others  believed  that  separation  was 
inevitable.  Two  leading  New  York  papers,  representing  the  two 
great  political  parties,  declared  that  the  South  had  the  same  right 
to  secede  from  the  Union  that  the  thirteen  colonies  had  to 
secede  from  Great  Britain.  They  furthermore  insisted  that  "  a 
Union  pinned  together  with  bayonets"  would  be  worthless.  On 
the  other  hand,  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia,  in  a  speech 
before  the  Georgia  Legislature  (November  14,  1860),  called  on 
the  South  to  accept  Lincoln's  election ;  "  to  secede  because  of 
that  election,"  said  he,  "puts  us  in  the  wrong."  Then  he  sig 
nificantly  added,  "  Some  of  our  public  men  have  failed  in  their 
aspirations";  "from  that  comes  a  great  part  of  our  troubles." 
This  statement  of  Stephens  was  greeted  with  prolonged  applause. 
Pollard  of  Virginia  later  said  that  southern  ambition  for  office 
was  a  strong  factor  in  secession. 

The  venerable  Senator  Crittenden  of  Kentucky  led  a  com 
promise  movement  in  Congress  (December  18,  1860).  He  pro 
posed  the  adoption  of  five  articles.  The  most  important  of  these 
were:  (i)  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  prohibiting  slavery 
in  all  territory  north  of  the  line  of  36°  30'  (§  324),  and  recogniz 
ing  it  as  existing  in  all  territory  south  of  that  line ;  but  states 
on  either  side  of  said  line  might  be  admitted,  with  or  without 
slavery,  as  their  constitutions  should  provide,  in  accordance  with 
Douglas'  principle  of  "Popular  Sovereignty"  (§  422)  ;  (2)  the 
United  States  was  to  pay  the  owners  for  all  rescued  fugitive 
slaves ;  (3)  no  future  amendment  of  the  Constitution  should 
affect  these  articles  or  give  Congress  power  to  abolish  or  interfere 
with  slavery  in  any  states  where  it  existed  by  law. 

Senator  Crittenden's  well-meant  attempt  to  harmonize  the 
interests  of  freedom  and  slavery  was  defeated.  Congress  con 
sidered  other  compromise  schemes  which  likewise  failed.  But 
eventually  a  resolution  to  amend  the  Constitution,  so  as  to  protect 
slavery  forever  in  the  Southern  States,  passed  both  Houses,  and 
was  approved  by  Buchanan  (March  3,  1861).  It  was  promptly 
ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  Ohio  and  Maryland,  but  the  coming 


436        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [iseo-ian 

on  of  the  Civil  War  blocked  its  further  progress.1  In  the  mean 
time  Congress  had  erected  the  three  new  territories  of  Colorado, 
Nevada,  and  Dakota,  without  prohibiting  slavery  in  them.  In  that 
action  it  followed  Webster's  position  taken  in  1850  (§  413). 

444.  Secession  of  South  Carolina  (1860) ;  statement  of  reasons; 
six  other  states  follow  (1861).  The  crisis  was  reached  on 
December  20,  1860.  On  that  eventful  day  the  South  Carolina 
Convention  (§  443),  sitting  in  Charleston,  unanimously  passed  an 
ordinance  of  secession.  It  declared  that  the  union  existing  between 
South  Carolina  and  the  other  states  "is  hereby  dissolved."2 

The  citizens  of  Charleston  hailed  the  announcement  with  the 
wildest  demonstrations  of  delight,  and  the  daily  papers  of  the 
city  began  forthwith  to  print  all  intelligence  received  from 
the  North  under  the  heading  "  Foreign  News." 

South  Carolina,  having  declared  herself  independent,  sent  a 
commission  to  Washington  to  demand  of  the  United  States  the 
prompt  surrender  of  all  forts,  arsenals,  and  other  property  held 
by  the  federal  government  within  the  seceded  state.  The  Presi 
dent  declined  to  receive  them  officially.  South  Carolina  denied 
that  her  action  in  withdrawing  from  the  Union  was  revolutionary 
or  rebellious,  but  claimed  that  the  right  to  secede  (§  355)  was 
"  an  essential  part  of  state  sovereignty,"  and  that  it  was  in  no 
sense  a  violation  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Convention  declared  that  South  Carolina  seceded  for  two 
reasons :  first,  because  fourteen  of  the  Northern  States  had 
"  deliberately  refused  to  fulfill  their  constitutional  obligations  " 
by  enacting  "  Personal  Liberty  Laws  "  (§  416),  which  nullified  the 
Fugitive-Slave  Act  (§414)  or  rendered  it  useless  to  the  South;3 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  93,  96 ;  Rhodes'  United  States,  III, 
150-154,  267,  313-314- 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  94;  Rhodes'  United  States,  III,  197- 
204;  Johnston's  American  Orations,  III,  211-239. 

8  But  effective  measures  had  already  been  taken  by  a  number  of  states  to  modify 
or  repeal  their  "  Personal  Liberty  Laws."  Had  the  convention  waited  a  short 
time,  it  seems  probable  that  every  state  which  had  passed  these  laws  would  have 
removed  all  the  objections  made  to  them  on  the  part  of  the  South.  See  Rhodes' 
United  States,  III,  252-253. 


CHARLESTON 

MERCURY 

EXTRA: 


Passed  unanimously  at  I.I*  oY/oc*,  P.  JK.t  December 
gO/A,  I860. 

AJV  ORDINANCE 

To  dissolve  the  Union  bettoten  the  State  of  Sow/A  Carolina  and 
other  States  wdttd  trtt  A  Her  tauter  the  compact  etdUUd  «  Th» 
Constitution  fif  the  United  Statet  of  Jnu-Hca." 

We,  iKe  People  ef  At  State  of  South  Carolina,  in  Convention  aittmtltd,  do  iedan  and  otdai*,  tr.i 
«  *  tertiy  declared  o*d  ordained, 

That  the  Ordiouo*  idopted  by  u  in  Coaveatioa,  on  (lift  twenly-thlrd  dk/  of  lliy,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thoucand  «ereo  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  whereby  the  Coutitutioa  of  the 
United  SUtei  of  America  was  ratified,  and  also,  an  Act*  and  part*  ot  IcU  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  this  State,  ratifying  amendment*  of  (ha  laid  Constitution,  are  hereby  repealed; 
and  that  the  union  now  tubeiiting  between  South  Carolina  and  other  State*,  under  the  name  of 
"The  United  States  of.America,"  U  hereby  dusolred. 


THE 

UNION 


BISSOIVEB! 


1860-1861]      THE  UNION,  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT    437 

secondly,  because  a  geographical  or  sectional  party  had  been 
formed  at  the  North,  which  had  elected  a  President  "whose 
opinions  and  purposes  "  were  "  hostile  to  slavery,"  and  who  had 
publicly  said  (§  439),  the  national  "  government  cannot  perma 
nently  endure  half  slave,  half  free." 

The  South  Carolina  secessionists  proclaimed  that  their  object 
was  to  establish  "  a  great  Slaveholding  Confederacy  stretching  its 
arms  over  a  territory  larger  than  any  power  in  Europe  possesses." 

By  the  first  of  February  (1861)  the  six  states  of  Mississippi, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  and  Texas  had  followed 
the  example  of  South  Carolina  and  had  declared  themselves  out 
of  the  Union  (§  451).  The  Mississippi  Convention  frankly 
avowed  that  the  object  of  secession  was  to  save  "  slavery,  the 
greatest  material  interest  in  the  world."  Georgia  went  reluctantly, 
apparently  expecting  to  soon  return.  Stephens  said  she  was  in 
duced  to  go  by  the  argument,  "We  can  make  better  terms  out 
of  the  Union  than  in  it."  The  truth  was  that  many  of  her  citi 
zens,  and  those  of  the  other  cotton  states  as  well,  loved  the  old 
flag,  and  left  it  only  because  they  were  overcome  by  the  secession 
movement  and  had  no  choice.  These  states  seized  the  forts  and 
other  property  of  the  United  States  within  their  limits  so  far  as 
they  could  lay  hands  on  them.  The  total  value  of  what  was  taken 
has  been  estimated  at  from  $30,000,000  to  $40,000,000.  In 
Texas  General  Twiggs  turned  over  a  very  large  quantity  of  national 
military  stores  to  the  secessionists. 

Early  in  January,  1861,  President  Buchanan  sent  a  merchant 
vessel,  the  Star  of  the  West,  with  reinforcements  and  supplies  for 
Major  Anderson,  who  held  Fort  Sumter  for  the  Union.  The  people 
of  Charleston  fired  on  the  vessel  and  compelled  her  to  turn  back. 
Wigfall  of  Texas,  who  still  retained  his  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  jeered  at  the  government,  saying,  "Your  flag  has  been 
insulted  ;  redress  it  if  you  dare."  But  a  little  later,  Secretary  Dix 
telegraphed  to  a  naval  officer  at  New  Orleans,  "  If  any  one 
attempts  to  haul  down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot." 

1  See  McPherson's  Political  History  of  the  Rebellion,  16. 


438          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1861 

445.  The  "Confederate  States  of  America";  their  flag;  their 
constitution;  the  Peace  Convention.  In  February,  1861,  delegates 
from  all  of  the  seceded  states  (except  Texas,  which  took  action 
later)  met  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  and  framed  a  provisional 
government.1  They  took  the  name  of  the  "  Confederate  States  of 
America,"  and  made  Montgomery  the  capital  of  the  new  Slave- 
holding  Republic.  Pollard  believes  that  they  represented  the 
"politicians,"  not  the  " people,"  of  the  South.  Jefferson  Davis 
(§413)  of  Mississippi  was  elected  President,  with  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  (§411)  of  Georgia  as  Vice  President. 

Davis  seems  to  have  believed  that  in  case  of  war  the  South 
would  find  the  divided  North  an  easy  conquest ; 2  and  he  declared 
that  the  densely  populated  cities  of  that  section  would  provide 
"food  for  the  sword  and  the  torch."  3 

In  the  Georgia  State  Convention  Stephens  had  declared  that 
the  South  had  always  held  "the  control"  of  the  general  govern 
ment  and  could  show  no  cause  for  withdrawing  from  the  Union 
(§  443).  At  that  time  Stephens  denounced  secession  as  "  the 
height  of  madness,  folly,  and  wickedness";  but,  unlike  Henry 
Clay  at  an  earlier  period  (§  413),  he  now  declared  that  he  would 
go  with  his  state.  He  said  that  the  "  corner  stone  "  of  the  Con 
federacy  rested  on  slavery  as  its  foundation  ;  and  he  boasted 
that  if  true  to  itself,  it  would  become  "  the  controlling  power  on 
this  continent."  4 

In  March,  1861,  the  Confederate  States  adopted  the  "stars 
and  bars"  as  their  national  flag  and  ratified  a  permanent  con 
stitution.5  It  differed  from  that  of  the  United  States  in  a  number 

1  See    McPherson's  Political  History  of  the  Rebellion,  12 ;  Johnston's  American 
Orations,  IV,  32. 

2  Ex-President  Pierce  had  said  in  a  letter  to  Jefferson  Davis  (January  6,  1860) : 
"  If  [a  war  between  the  North  and  the  South]  must  come,  the  fighting  will  not  be 
along  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  merely.     It  [will]  be  within  our  own  borders,  in  our 
own  streets,  between  the  two  classes  of  citizens  to  whom  I  have  referred."     See 
McPherson's  Political  History  of  the  Rebellion  (revised  edition),  391. 

8  See  Greeley's  American  Conflict,  I,  415. 

4  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  39. 

5  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  No.  97 ;  McPherson's  Political  History  of 
the  Rebellion,  98. 


From  the  Rev.  Morgan  Dix's  "  Memoirs  of  John  A.  Dix,"  by  permission  of  the  Author. 


.^f 

/^^^affifa^w^ 

'    i.  ^  /          ' SS^^    ^  .^ 

If  A    / 

CHflWs 


' 


NOTE.  — Captain  Breshwood  of  New  Orlfeans  refused  to  take  any  steps  toward 
saving  the  revenue  cutter  McClelland  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Secessionists, 
who  were  seizing  such  vessels  for  the  use  of  the  Southern  States.  The  letter  of 
Secretary  Dix  on  this  point  explains  itself. 


1861]         THE   UNION,   NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        439 

of  important  points,  four  of  which  may  be  mentioned  here  : 
(i)  the  President's  term  of  office  was  fixed  at  six  years,  and  he 
could  not  be  reflected  ;  (2)  he  could  veto  any  appropriation  and 
at  the  same  time  approve  of  any  other  appropriation  in  the  same 
bill;  (3)  all  protective  duties  and  protective  bounties  were 
prohibited ;  (4)  slavery  was  nationalized,  and  was  recognized  and 
protected  in  all  new  territory  which  the  Confederacy  might 

acquire. 

On  the  very  day  on  which  the  secession  delegates  met  at 
Montgomery  (February  4,  1861)  a  "Peace  Congress,"1  called 
at  the  request  of  Virginia,  assembled  at  Washington.  Twenty- 
one  states  were  represented,  but  none  of  the  seven  seceded  states 
sent  delegates.  The  purpose  of  the  convention  was  to  effect  a 
compromise  and  "save  the  Union,"  but  nothing  came  of  the 
attempt.  While  the  men  of  peace  were  in  session  the  people  of 
Charleston  were  building  batteries  to  bombard  Sumter.  They 
only  waited  for  the  order  from  Jefferson  Davis  to  open  fire  and 
begin  the  Civil  War. 

446.  What  made  secession  possible.  Slavery  was  the  primary 
cause  of  secession  (§  444)-  Madison,  "the  Father  of  the  Con 
stitution,"  was  convinced  that  it  threatened  sooner  or  later  to  split 
the  Republic.  Jefferson  held  the  same  conviction.  Directly  or 
indirectly  it  had  threatened  to  destroy  the  Union  from  the  outset 
(§  257)  ;  yet,  considered  purely  from  an  economic  and  industrial 
point  of  view,  there  was  a  period  in  our  history  when  slavery  was 
an  apparent  advantage.  Its  introduction  into  Virginia  (§  44) 
stimulated  the  settlement  of  that  colony,  the  mother-colony  of 
the  American  commonwealth,  and  established  a  lucrative  com 
merce  in  tobacco. 

Later  (§259),  the  same  system  of  labor  made  the  raising  of 
cotton  enormously  profitable  not  only  to  the  South  but  to  the 
whole  country.  The  whole  country,  too,  had  in  some  degree 
upheld  keeping  the  African  in  bondage  ;  and  Lincoln  uttered  the 
simple  truth  when  he  said,  «  We  are  all  responsible  for  slavery." 

l  See  Macdonald's  Select  Documents,  Nos.  95-96. 


440          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [isci 

But  these  temporary  material  benefits  were  offset  by  the  fact 
that  slave  labor  was  necessarily  opposed  to  progress  beyond  a 
certain  point.  It  was  adapted  to  a  simple  uniform  routine  sys 
tem  of  agriculture,  and  to  nothing  more.  It  exhausted  the  soil ; 
it  discouraged  and  degraded  free  labor ;  it  shut  the  South  against 
immigration  ;  it  refused  to  establish  common  schools.  It  concen 
trated  the  capital,  the  intelligence,  the  political  power,  and  the 
social  influence  of  the  South  in  the  hands  of  a  small  per  cent  of 
the  population,  for  seven  voters  out  of  every  ten  in  that  section 
were  "  poor  whites,"  who  did  not  own  a  single  negro.  It  left  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  in  poverty  and  ignorance  and  without 
real  legislative  representation.  It  was  the  slaveholder,  and,  as  a 
rule,  the  slaveholder  only,  who  went  to  Congress  or  was  elected 
to  any  state  office.  The  men  who  did  not  possess  slaves  were 
branded  as  "  poor  white  trash,"  and  the  very  negroes  looked 
down  upon  them  in  contempt.  These  "  poor  whites  "  were  the 
victims  of  the  slave  system;  as  a  recent  southern  writer  acknowl 
edges,  they  withered  under  its  overshadowing  influence  as  shrubs 
wither  beneath  a  widespreading  oak.1 

So  far  as  progress  was  concerned  in  1860  slavery  was  a  spent 
force.  It  was  a  system  of  labor  which  the  civilized  world  gener 
ally  had  outgrown  and  cast  aside.  More  than  that,  it  was  a 
stumbling-block  to  the  very  people  who,  at  an  earlier  period,  had 
wished  to  rid  themselves  of  it  (§  45),  but  who  now  cherished  it 
and  were  ready  to  fight  for  it.  It  was  the  misfortune,  not  the 
crime,  of  the  southern  people  (§  352)  that  they  could  not  see  this 
then.  They  had  been  reared  among  slaves  and  Calhoun  had 
educated  them  to  believe  that  African  servitude  was -"a  positive 
good  "  to  both  black  and  white  (§  354). 

Hence,  as  a  representative  of  South  Carolina  has  said,  slavery 
kept  the  South  stationary  "  in  government,  in  society,  in  employ 
ments,  in  labor,"  2  so  that  it  had  not  moved  for  half  a  century. 
It  was  a  case  of  what  physiologists  call  "arrested  development," 
and  the  best  powers  of  our  southern  brothers  lay  concealed 

1  See  Smith's  History  of  Georgia,  141.  2  See  C.  D.  Wright's  United  States,  146. 


1861]         THE   UNION,  NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT        441 

and  dormant,   waiting  for   the  great  day  of   emancipation  and 
resurrection. 

At  the  North  everything  had  changed  ;  slavery  had  disappeared, 
free  labor  prospered,  education  was  open  to  all,  millions  of  sturdy 
immigrants  had  settled  in  the  West  and  planted  civilization  in  the 
wilderness.  Patriotism,  thanks  in  no  small  measure  to  Webster's 
efforts  (§  351),  had  outgrown  the  narrow  crippling  theory  of  state 
sovereignty  and  had  broadened  into  a  genuine  devotion  to  the 
Union.  For  many  years  no  man,  or  set  of  men,  possessed  of 
political  influence  had  so  much  as  hinted  at  the  possibility  of 
northern  secession  (§§  282,  310,  382). 

On  the  other  hand,  the  southern  people  had  been  taught  by 
Calhoun1  and  his  school  that  the  American  Republic,  however 
dear  it  might  be  to  them,  was  not  a  nation,  but  simply  a  partner 
ship  of  independent  states,  which  had  the  constitutional  right  to 
withdraw  when  they  saw  fit.  Misled  by  slavery,  they  had  come 
to  believe  that  their  welfare  depended  on  holding  the  negro  in 
bondage.  Notwithstanding  the  protests  of  the  Republican  party 
to  the  contrary,  they  conceived  that  the  election  of  Lincoln 
showed  that  the  free  states  were  resolved  to  destroy  the  system 
of  property  in  man  throughout  the  South.2 

In  order  to  perpetuate  and  extend  that  system  they  now  deter 
mined  to  pull  down  the  pillars  of  the  Republic  and  build  up  a 
new  commonwealth, "  separated,"  as  an  able  southern  writer  has 
said,  "  from  the  rest  of  the  world  in  sympathy  and  feeling," 
opposed  to  progress,  with  its  face  turned  from  the  light  and 
toward  the  past.  Thus  slavery  bred  sectionalism,  and  sectionalism 
bred  secession  and  civil  war. 

447.  Summary.  The  chief  events  of  Buchanan's  administra 
tion  were  :  (i)  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  opening  the  territories 
to  slavery;  (2)  the  panic  of  1857;  (3)  the  discovery  of  the 

1  See   Calhoun's   Works,  VI,  169,  194  et  seq.      Calhoun's  love  of   the   Union 
was  overbalanced  by  his  conviction  of  the  right  of  nullification  and,  if  need  be,  of 
secession  in  the  interest  of  state  sovereignty  and  of  slavery  (§§  355,  404,  413). 

2  See  Elaine's  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  I,  257. 


442 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


"  Bonanza  "  silver  mines  and  the  development  of  our  petroleum 
deposits;  (4)  the  Mormon  rebellion;  (5)  the  John  Brown  raid; 
(6)  the  secession  of  South  Carolina,  followed  by  six  other  states, 
and  the  formation  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


MAP  OF  CHARLESTON  HARBOR 

Showing  Fort  Sumter  and  the  battery  which  fired  on  the  Star  of  the  West 
(see  §  444) 


VI 

THE  WAR  OF   SECESSION1 

(1861-1865) 

For  authorities  for  this  chapter,  see  footnotes  and  the  classified 
list  of  books  in  the  Appendix,  Page  xxiv 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  (REPUBLICAN),  TWO  TERMS  (1861-1869) 

448.  Lincoln's  journey  to  Washington  and  inaugural  address. 
Lincoln  fully  realized  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  He  had  been 
elected  President  by  a  divided  people  and  Congress  was  under 
the  control  of  the  party  which  had  opposed  him  (§442).  In 
his  farewell  speech  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  Lincoln  said  to  his 
friends  :  "  I  go  to  assume  a  task  more  difficult  than  that  which 
devolved  upon  Washington.  Unless  the  great  God,  who  assisted 
him,  shall  be  with  and  aid  me,  I  must  fail."  To  avoid  the  danger 
of  threatened  assassination  at  Baltimore,  the  President  elect,  act 
ing  on  the  advice  of  General  Scott  and  Secretary  Seward,2  made 
the  last  part  of  his  journey  to  Washington  secretly  by  night  train. 

1  See  Dodge's  Bird's-Eye  View  of  the  Civil  War  (revised  edition) ;  Schouler's  Civil 
War;  Rhodes'  United  States,  1II-V  ;  McPherson's  Political  History  of  the  Rebel 
lion  (revised  edition)  ;  Greeley's  American  Conflict ;  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln  ;  Bur 
gess'  Civil  War  and  the  Constitution ;  The  Century  Company's  Battles  and  Sieges 
of  the  Civil  War;  Grant's  Memoirs;  Sherman's  Memoirs;  Hart's  American  History 
told  by  Contemporaries,  IV;  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes ;  Elaine's  Twenty  Years 
of  Congress,  I ;  Stephens'  War  between  the  States  (Confederate) ;  Jefferson  Davis' 
Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  States  (Confederate)  ;  Gordon's  Reminiscences  of 
the  Civil  War  (Confederate). 

2  President  Lincoln's  Cabinet.    Secretary  of  State,  William  H.  Seward;  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  Salmon  P.  Chase  (succeeded  July  5,  1864,  by  Win.  P.  Fessenden) ; 
Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cameron  (succeeded  January  n,  1862,  by  Edwin  M.  Stan- 
ton)  ;  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Gideon  Welles ;  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  C.  B.  Smith 
(succeeded  January   8,    1863,  by  J.  P.  Usher)  ;   Attorney-General,   Edward  Bates 

443 


444          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1861- 

In  his  inaugural  address l  (§  442)  the  President  said  :  "  I  have 
no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution 
of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  law 
ful  right  to  do  so  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so."  He  even 
favored  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (§  443)  prohibiting 
such  interference.  Passing  to  the  question  of  secession,  he  said  : 
"The  union  of  these  states  is  perpetual."  "No  state  upon  its 
own  mere  motion  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union."  "  I  shall 
take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins  upon  me, 
that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  states." 
"The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government." 

Then  turning  to  those  of  his  hearers  who  sympathized  with 
secession,  he  said :  "  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow- 
countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war. 
The  government  will  not  assail  you.  .You  can  have  no  conflict 
without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  can  have  no  oath 
registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government;  while  I  shall  have 
the  most  solemn  one  to  '  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it.'  " 


FIRST  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  (APRIL,  1 86 1 -APRIL,  1862) 

449.  Anderson's  report ;  division  in  the  Cabinet ;  capture  of 
Fort  Sumter.  The  next  day  Major  Anderson  of  Fort  Sumter 
(§  444)  reported  that  he  had  but  a  month's  provisions  left,  and 
that  it  would  require  20,000  men  to  relieve  and  hold  the  fort. 
Anderson's  entire  force  consisted  of  128  men,  half  of  whom  were 
noncombatants. 

President  Lincoln  was  by  nature  a  man  of  peace.  His  maxim 
was,  "  It  is  better  to  plow  round  the  log  than  to  try  to  plow 

(succeeded  December  14,  1864,  by  James  Speed)  ;  Postmaster-General,  Montgomery 
Blair  (succeeded  October  i,  1864,  by  Wm.  Dennison).  Second  Term.  Cabinet 
changes :  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Hugh  McCulloch ;  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
James  Harlan. 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  16 ;  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  III,  327. 


1861]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  445 

through  it";  but  the  question  of  relieving  Anderson  demanded 
immediate  action,  and  such  action  seemed  likely  to  precipitate 
civil  war. 

The  Cabinet  was  divided.  Seward  thought  that  the  secession 
difficulty  would  be  satisfactorily  settled  within  "  sixty  days,"  and 
suggested  that  the  best  way  to  reunite  the  North  and  the  South 
would  be  to  declare  a  foreign  war.  Chase,  on  the  other  hand, 
thought  that  if  we  must  choose  between  civil  war  and  peaceful 
separation,  we  had  better  accept  the  latter.  General  Scott,  as 
the  President's  chief  military  adviser,  believed  that  it  would  be 
best  to  compromise  with  the  Southern  States  or  else  say,  "  Way 
ward  sisters,  depart  in  peace." 

Meanwhile  a  terrific  scramble  for  office  was  going  on,  and  the 
President  said  that  he  felt  like  a  man  letting  apartments  in  a 
burning  building  "likely  soon  to  perish  in  ashes." 

At  a  consultation  of  the  Cabinet,  Blair  voted  to  relieve  Fort 
Sumter,  and  Chase  cast  a  conditionally  affirmative  vote ;  the  remain 
ing  five  members  voted  against  it  as  inexpedient ;  but  at  a  final 
meeting  on  this  subject  a  majority  favored  it.  The  President,  how 
ever,  had  already  resolved  to  take  the  responsibility  on  himself  and 
"  send  bread  to  Anderson."  This  decision  brought  matters  to  a 
crisis.  General  Beauregard  was  in  command  of  the  secession 
forces  in  Charleston,  and  Jefferson  Davis  ordered  him  to  demand 
the  immediate  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter.  Major  Anderson  de 
clined  to  give  up  the  fort. 

At  daybreak  the  next  morning  (April  12,  1861)  Beauregard's 
batteries  opened  fire.  Anderson's  guns  replied  as  best  they 
could.  The  artillery  duel  continued  thirty-four  hours.  The 
commander  of  Fort  Sumter  could  hold  out  no  longer.  His 
handful  of  men  were  utterly  exhausted  and  his  provisions  and 
available  ammunition  were  used  up ;  he  was  forced  to  capitulate. 
No  one  had  been  killed  on  either  side ;  it  was  the  bloodless 
beginning  of  the  bloodiest  civil  war  known  in  modern  history. 

On  Sunday  morning  (April  14,  1861)  the  brave  defender  of 
Sumter  led  his  little  garrison  out  of  the  fort.  They  departed 


446          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1861 

with  the  honors  of  war,  —  colors  flying  and  drums  beating. 
Major  Anderson  took  with  him  the  shot-torn  national  flag  which 
had  floated  above  the  fort ;  on  that  very  day,  four  years  later,  it 
was  triumphantly  restored  to  its  old  place.  He  and  his  men 
then  embarked  for  New  York. 

450.  The  President's  call  for  troops;  Davis  retaliates;  the 
blockade ;  the  uprising  of  the  North ;  the  first  bloodshed.  The 
next  morning  (April  15,  1861)  the  President  summoned  an  extra 
session  of  Congress  to  meet  on  July  4,  and  issued  a  procla 
mation  l  calling  for  75,000  "three-months'  men"2  (§  508)  to 
uphold  the  national  flag  and  defend  the  national  honor.  Davis 
retorted  by  calling  for  32,000  men  and  by  inviting  privateers 
(§  312)  to  attack  northern  merchant  vessels.  A  few  days  later 
(April  19,  1861),  President  Lincoln  declared  the  ports  of  the 
Confederate  States  blockaded  against  foreign  commerce.8  He 
also  declared  that  the  Confederate  privateers  would  be  treated 
as  pirates,  but  the  progress  of  the  war  compelled  the  national 
government  to  recede  from  this  position  (§  460). 

The  North  responded  to  the  President's  call  with  an  alacrity 
and  enthusiasm  which  could  not  be  mistaken.  Over  90,000 
men  enlisted.  The  streets  of  the  great  cities  blazed  with  patri 
otic  colors  and  resounded  with  martial  music  and  the  tramp  of 
armed  men  hurrying  to  the  defense  of  the  nation.  Party  lines 
were  thrown  down ;  everywhere  the  cry  rose,  "  Crush  the  rebel 
lion  ! "  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Lincoln's  old  political  antagonist 
(§§439,  441),  hastened  to  the  President  to  take  him  by  the 
hand  and  assure  him  of  his  support.  He  saw  that  the  time  for 
compromise  had  passed.4  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  every  man  must 
be  for  the  United  States  or  against  it."  He  died  soon  after  the 
great  war  began,  but  he  used  his  voice  and  pen  to  the  last  in 
behalf  of  the  Union.  The  "  War  Democrats  "  responded  nobly 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  i. 

2  As  the  law  then  stood,  the  President  could  not  call  out  the  state  militia  for  a 
longer  time. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  2. 

4  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  III,  176. 


1861]  THE   WAR   OF    SECESSION  447 

to  Douglas'  appeal,  and  during  the  long  struggle  they  vied  with 
the  Republicans  in  their  devotion  to  the  government. 

Pennsylvania  was  first  in  the  field,  but  the  Massachusetts 
Sixth  was  the  first  fully  armed  regiment  which  entered  the 
national  capital.  On  its  way  through  Baltimore  (April  19,  1861) 
the  regiment  was  attacked  by  a  mob  of  howling  " roughs";  a 
number  of  the  soldiers  were  wounded  and  several  were  killed.1 
It  was  the  anniversary  of  the  battles  of  Lexington  and  Concord. 
On  that  day,  sacred  to  the  cause  of  American  liberty,  the 
first  blood  was  shed  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  The  fol 
lowing  day  the  garrison  at  Fort  Monroe,  the  most  important 
stronghold  on  the  coast,  was  reenforced,  and  the  next  month 
General  Butler  took  command  there.  Washington  was  speedily 
transformed  into  a  military  camp,  and  the  first  story  of  the 
national  capitol  was  converted  into  a  vast  bakery  to  feed  the 
men  who  had  started  out  to  fight  in  behalf  of  the  Union. 

451.  The  uprising  of  the  South ;  what  North  and  South  fought 
for;  secession  of  four  more  states;  the  "border  states."  The 
military  activity  of  the  South  equaled  that  of  the  North ;  thou 
sands  of  volunteers  rushed  to  answer  Davis'  call.  The  politicians 
had  started  the  secession  movement  (§  443)  purely  in  the  inter 
est  of  slavery  and  of  their  own  selfish  ambition.  The  first  gun 
fired  at  Sumter  roused  the  mass  of  the  southern  people  to  wild 
excitement,  and  they  were  ready  to  move  even  faster  than  their 
leaders  wished. 

The  Secession  Congress  at  Montgomery  declared  that  President 
Lincoln's  call  for  troops  was  an  attempt  to  "  overawe,  oppress,  and 
finally  subjugate  the  people  of  the  Confederate  States."  The  rank 
and  file  of  the  secession  army  did  not  question  the  truth  of  this 
assertion.  Most  of  them  were  men  who  recognized  no  authority 
higher  than  that  of  their  own  state.  Misled  by  this  idea,  they  be 
lieved  that  the  North  threatened  to  invade  and  destroy  their  homes, 
liberate  the  slaves,  and  "  swamp  the  country  with  barbarism." 

1  But  this  attack  did  not  represent  the  real  feeling  of  the  state ;  eventually  many 
of  its  men  entered  the  Union  army. 


448          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [mi 

Lincoln  clearly  stated  the  issue  when  he  said  later  :  "  Both 
parties  deprecated  war ;  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather 
than  let  the  nation  survive,  and  the  other  would  accept  war 
rather  than  let  it  perish ;  and  the  war  came." 

The  call  of  the  national  government  for  troops  compelled  the 
remaining  slave  states  to  decide  what  course  they  would  take. 
Virginia,  Arkansas,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee  joined  the 
Confederacy,  making  a  total  of  eleven  states.  This  gave  the 
seceding  section  an  area  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  entire  United 
States  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  In  May  (1861)  the  Con 
federate  capital  was  removed  to  Richmond. 

The  people  of  the  western  part  of  Virginia  had  but  few  slaves ; 
they  generally  opposed  secession,  and  later  (1863)  they  organized 
a  separate  state  under  the  name  of  West  Virginia.  The  gover 
nors  of  the  four  border  slave  states  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  Ken 
tucky,  and  Missouri  refused  to  answer  the  President's  call  for 
volunteers  to  defend  the  national  flag ;  but  subsequently  all  of 
these  states  contributed  large  numbers  of  men  to  the  ranks  of  the 
Union  army.  So,  too,  did  eastern  Tennessee,  which  was  strongly 
loyal.1 

452.  Mistakes  of  the  secessionists;  the  situation;  population  of 
the  North  and  of  the  South.  The  southern  politicians  who  incited 
secession  made  three  serious  mistakes  at  the  outset:  (i)  they 
believed  that  all  of  the  slave  states  would  join  them  and  so  form 
a  "solid  South";  (2)  the  utterances  of  prominent  men  of  the 
"  Peace  party"  at  the  North  led  the  secessionists  to  think  that 
the  North  would  be  in  danger  of  civil  war  among  its  own  people 
(§  444),  and  that  the  President  would  be  powerless  to  prevent 
the  dismemberment  of  the  Union  ;  (3)  finally,  the  secessionists 
thought  that  if  the  North  did  take  up  arms  to  save  the  nation, 
England's  need  of  cotton  and  Napoleon's  desire  to  get  possession 
of  Mexico  would  induce  those  powers  to  interfere  and  recog 
nize  southern  independence.  None  of  these  things  happened, 

1  The  border  slaveholding  states  contributed  nearly  350,000  white  troops  to  the 
ranks  of  the  Union  army,  and  even  the  states  which  seceded  furnished  over  86,000. 


1861]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  449 

and  the  states  which  seceded  had  to  accept  the  situation  as  best 
they  could. 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  the  early  summer  of  1861  was  as  fol 
lows  :  Of  the  thirty-four  states  then  constituting  the  Union  eleven 
had  seceded  and  four  were  divided  in  their  allegiance.  Nineteen 
states  stood  firmly  by  the  old  flag. 

The  census  of  1860  reported  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States  at  nearly  31,500,000.  Of  this  number  the  seceded  states 
had  somewhat  over  9,000,000,  including  about  3,500,000  slaves, 
who,  though  noncombatants,  would  by  their  labor  keep  many  com 
batants  in  the  field.  The  "border  states"  had  a  population  of  some 
what  more  than  3,000,000  and  the  free  states  about  19,000,000. 
The  available  military  strength  of  the  free  states  was  probably  three 
times  greater  than  that  of  the  South,  and  in  the  course  of  the  war 
it  was  increased  by  the  enlistment  of  negroes  and  by  the  arrival  of 
over  600,000  immigrants  (§  374).  Lincoln  estimated  the  total 
force  which  the  Union  states  could  furnish  in  case  of  emergency 
at  4,000,000. 

453.  Material  resources  and  military  advantages  of  the  two  sec 
tions.  The  wealth  of  the  North  was  immensely  greater  than  that 
of  the  South.  The  census  of  1860  reported  the  assessed  valuation 
of  the  North  in  round  numbers  at  nearly  $11,000,000,000,  and 
that  of  the  South  at  only  a  little  more  than  $5,000,000,000,  and  of 
this  $2,000,000,000  was  slave  property.  With  few  exceptions,  the 
North  had  the  foundries,  factories,  workshops,  and  shipyards,  —  in 
a  word,  the  "  machine  power  "  and  mechanical  skill  of  the  nation. 
Besides  this  it  had  a  thousand  million  acres  of  public  lands  north 
and  west  of  the  slave  region  and  it  possessed  mines  which  annu 
ally  produced  gold  and  silver  worth  nearly  $100, 000,000. l  The 
North,  too,  had  two  thirds  of  all  the  railways,  and  her  ports 
remained  open  to  the  commerce  of  the  globe. 

The  South,  after  her  ports  were  once  fairly  blockaded,  was  cut 
off  from  getting  supplies  from  abroad.  It  was  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  for  her  to  repair  a  railway  that  had  once  been 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  273-274. 


450          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1861 

destroyed  in  any  large  degree  ;  and  after  the  war  reached  a  certain 
point  every  man  killed  or  crippled  created  a  vacancy  that  even 
Jefferson  Davis  found  it  impossible  to  fill. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  the  southern  people  were  more  accus 
tomed  to  the  use  of  firearms  than  those  of  the  North.  They  had 
the  immense  advantage  of  fighting  mainly  on  the  defensive,  on 
inside  lines,  and  on  territory  where  they,  and  they  only,  knew 
every  foot  of  the  ground. 

The  North  was  forced  to  employ  colossal  armies,  for  the  Union 
troops  were  compelled  not  only  to  conquer  but  also  to  hold  an  ever- 
increasing  area  havfng  a  maximum  of  over  800,000  square  miles. 
In  nearly  every  instance  they  had  to  carry  their  supplies  with  them 
over  a  constantly  lengthening  line  which  was  often  liable  to  be 
broken  by  a  sudden  attack  in  the  rear.  General  Grant  states  that 
when  he  advanced  into  the  "  Wilderness  "  in  his  campaign  against 
Richmond,  his  wagon  train  extended  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles 
in  a  straight  line  and  required  18,000  horses  and  mules  to  draw  it. 

All  things  considered,  Grant  thought  that  the  two  contending 
forces,  from  a  military  point  of  view,  were  practically  about  equal. 
In  the  course  of  the  war  the  North  called  out  a  total  force,  ree'n- 
listments  included,  of  nearly  3,000,000  men  (§  508).  All  were 
volunteers- except  a  small  number  obtained  by  draft.1 

After  the  first  enlistments  liberal  bounties  had  to  be  paid  in 
order  to  secure  troops.  These  bounties  averaged  $400  per  head, 
and  amounted  in  the  aggregate  to  about  $300,000,000,  besides 
$100,000,000  devoted  to  helping  soldiers'  families.2  The  greatest, 
number  of  troops  in  the  Union  service  at  any  one  time  was  a  little 
over  1,000,000;  the  greatest  number  in  the  Confederate  service 
at  one  time  has  been  estimated  at  about  470,000. 

No  trustworthy  statistics  of  southern  enlistments  can  be  had ; 
but  it  is  known  that  a  merciless  system  of  conscription  eventually 
forced  their  entire  available  fighting  population,  from  boys  to  old 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  31. 

2  See  Rhodes'   United  States,   IV,  430-432 ;  Billings'   Hard  Tack  and  Coffee, 
36-38,  214-215;  Greeley's  American  Conflict,  II,  ;(>o. 


More  Massachusetts  Volunteers  Accepted  !  !  ! 


Three  Regiments  to  be  Immediately  Recruited! 


GEN,  WILSON'S  EEGIMENT, 

To  which  OAPT,  POLLETT'S  BATTEKY  is  attached; 
COL,  JONES'  GALLANT  SIXTH  EEGIMENT, 

WHICH  WENT  "THROUGH  BALTIMORE"; 

THE  N,  E,  GUAEDS  EEGIMENT,  commanded  by  that 
excellent  officer,  MAJOE  J,  T,  STEVENSON, 


The  undersigned  has  this  day  been  authorized  and  directed  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of 
these  regiments  forthwith.  A  grand  opportunity  is  afforded  for  patriotic  persons  to 
enlist  in  the  service  of  their  country  under  the  command  of  as  able  officers  as  the 
country  has  yet  furnished.  Pay  and  rations  will  begin  immediately  on  enlistment. 

UNIFORMS  ALSO   PROVIDED! 

Citizens  of  Massachusetts  should  feel  pride  in  attaching  themselves  to  regiments 
from  their  own  State,  in  order  to  maintain  the  proud  supremacy  Avhich  the  Old  Bay 
State  now  enjoys  in  the  contest  for  the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  The  people  of 
many  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  Commonwealth  have  made  ample  provision  for 
those  joining  the  ranks  of  the  army.  If  any  person  enlists  in  a  Company  or  Regiment 
out  of  the  Commonwealth,  he  cannot  share  in  the  bounty  which  has  been  thus  liber 
ally  voted.  Wherever  any  town  or  city  has  assumed  the  privilege  of  supporting  the 
families  of  Volunteers,  the  Commonwealth  reimburses  such  place  to  the  amount  of 
$12  per  month  for  families  of  three  persons. 

Patriots  desiring  to  serve  the  country  will  bear  in  mind  that 

THE  GENERAL  RECRUITING  STATION 

IS  AT 
No.    14    IPITTS    STREET,    BOSTON! 

WILLIAM  W.  BULLOCK 
Boston  Journal  of  Sept.  12, 1861.]  ^^  ***"**"  °^cer'  ^^husetts  Volunteers. 


GENERAL   POPE'S  ARMY. 


"Lynch    Law    for    Guerillas    and    No    Rebel 
Property     Guarded  !  > > 

IS  THE  MOTTO  OF  THE 

SECOND  MASSACHUSETTS  REGIMENT. 

$578.5O  for  21  months'  service. 
$352.00  State  aid  for  families  of  four. 
$830.50  and  short  service. 
$125.00  cash  in  hand. 

This  Regiment,  although  second  in  number,  is  second  to  none  in  regard  to  disci 
pline  and  efficiency,  and  is  in  the  healthiest  and  most  delightful  country. 

Office  at  Coolidge  House,  Bowdoin  Square. 

CAPT.   C.   E.   MUDGE. 
LIEUT.  A.  D,  SAWYER, 


1861]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  451 

men,  to  enter  the  Confederate  ranks  ;  as  Butler  said,  "  They  robbed 
the  cradle  and  the  grave  "  to  get  fighting  men. 

454.  The  Union  navy ;  the  Confederate  cruisers  and  privateers. 
Shortly  before  the  war  broke  out  the  scanty  navy  of  the  United 
States  was  dispersed  in  foreign  waters,  and  a  Congressional  com 
mittee  reported  that  only  two  armed  vessels  "  were  available  for 
the  defense  "  or  blockade  of  the  southern  Atlantic  coast.     The 
line  of  blockade  extended  for  3000  miles  with  but  a  single  Union 
port  of  refuge.     To  hold  this  line,  and  to  conduct  naval  opera 
tions  along  the  coast  and  on  the  western  rivers,  at  least  six  hun 
dred  vessels  would  be  required.    With  few  exceptions,  all  of  these 
had  to  be  built,  bought,  or  hired  by  the  government. 

The  Confederate  States  had  no  navy,  but  they  captured  the 
hulks  of  a  number  of  first-class  vessels  of  war  when  (1861)  they 
got  possession  of  the  Norfolk  navy  yard.  They  sent  out  a  few 
privateers  and  a  number  of  small  armed  cruisers,  built  several  for 
midable  ironclads  at  home,  and  built  or  fitted  out  the  Florida, 
the  Shenandoah,  and  the  Alabama  in  England  (§§  503,  526). 
These  cruisers,  armed  with  British  guns  and  manned  largely  by 
British  sailors,  destroyed  Union  property  worth  many  millions 
and  drove  merchant  ships  flying  the  Union  flag  from  the  ocean. 

455.  The  financial  side  of  the  war.    The  national  government 
entered  upon  the  war  with  an  empty  treasury,  but  loyal  men  came 
to  the  rescue  and  furnished  money  to  meet  the  most  pressing 
immediate  calls.     The  gigantic  contest  cost  the  loyal  states  on  an 
average  over  $2,000,000  a  day.    The  funds  to  meet  this  enormous 
demand  were  obtained  from  four  sources :   (i)  duties  on  imports 
under  the  Morrill  protective  tariff1  of  1861  and  the  higher  tariffs 
of  1862  and  1864  (§  404) ;  (2)  internal  revenue  taxes  which  drew 
tribute  from  almost  every  form  of  property,  visible  or  invisible; 
(3)  the  sale  of  interest-bearing  bonds  and  interest-bearing  treas 
ury  notes;   (4)  the  issue  of  over  $430,000,000  of  legal-tender 
notes,  popularly  known  as  "greenbacks."     But  the  chief  reliance 
of  the  government  was  on  the  sale  of  bonds ;  these  were  freely 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  265. 


452          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1861 

taken  by  all  classes  of  people  and  were  largely  purchased  abroad. 
The  success  of  these  sales  was  due  in  very  great  measure  to 
Jay  Cooke,  a  Philadelphia  banker,  who  became  the  sole  financial 
agent  of  the  government.  He  disposed  of  bonds  aggregating  the 
enormous  sum  of  $2,000,000,000.  To  further  stimulate  the  sale 
of  these  bonds  at  home  Congress  established  (1863)  a  system  of 
National  Banks,  which  were  required  to  buy  and  hold  government 
bonds  as  security  for  the  notes  they  put  in  circulation.1 

The  enormous  issues  of  paper  money  caused  proportionate 
depreciation,  and  the  demand  for  gold  compelled  all  banks  to 
suspend  specie  payment.  In  spite  of  the  vigorous  efforts  of  Sec 
retary  Chase  and  of  Congress  to  prevent  it,  gold  kept  rising,  until 
it  finally  (1864)  touched  285 1,  and  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
"  greenback  "  dollar  fell  to  less  than  thirty-six  cents.  As  "  green 
backs"  fell,  prices,  of  course,  rose,  although  wages  failed  to  advance 
in  anything  like  the  same  proportion.  Silver,  like  gold,  disap 
peared  from  circulation,  all  the  banks  in  the  country  suspended 
specie  payment,  and  in  order  to  meet  the  demand  for  "  change  " 
the  government  had  to  issue  fractional  paper  currency  in  notes 
ranging  in  value  from  three  to  fifty  cents.  The  total  issues  and 
reissues  of  this  currency  amounted  to  nearly  $370,000,000. 

The  Confederate  States  likewise  issued  bonds  and  treasury 
notes.  At  first  they  were  able  to  sell  these  securities  abroad  and 
to  export  considerable  quantities  of  cotton  in  exchange  for  foreign 
arms  and  supplies.  But  the  blockade  gradually  cut  off  all  inter 
course  with  Europe  and  the  sale  of  Confederate  bonds  ceased. 
After  the  first  year  of  the  war  the  paper  money  of  the  South  rap 
idly  depreciated,  and  long  before  the  close  of  the  contest  it  had 
become  practically  worthless. 

456.  Extraordinary  powers  granted  to  the  President.  In  order 
to  successfully  prosecute  the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union, 
the  President  believed  it  necessary  to  do  a  number  of  things 
usually  considered  beyond  the  province  of  the  Executive.  In 
emergencies  he  took  possession  of  railroad  and  telegraph  lines, 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  ch.  xii,  xiii. 


i6oi]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  453 

arrested  many  thousands  of  suspected  persons,  temporarily  stopped 
the  publication  of  several  newspapers,  and  suspended  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus. 

Congress  (1863)  fully  sustained  him  in  the  exercise  of  these 
powers,1  although  the  "Peace  party,"  and  even  many  strong 
Union  men,  loudly  protested.  The  extreme  portion  of  that  party 
—  nicknamed  "Copperheads"  from  a  venomous  snake  which 
strikes  without  giving  warning  —  did  not  hesitate  to  avow  their 
sympathy  with  secession.  They  declared  that  the  President 
deliberately  violated  the  Constitution.2  The  truth  is  that  no  writ 
ten  frame  of  government  has  ever  been  planned  which  could  meet 
the  terrible  exigency  of  a  great  civil  war,  and  cases  arose  when  the 
President  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  bend  the  Constitution  in 
order  to  avoid  breaking  it.  At  the  South,  Jefferson  Davis  pur 
sued  a  still  more  arbitrary  course,  and  his  administration  seems 
to  have  become  an  absolute  military  despotism. 

457.  Attitude  of  foreign  powers.  In  the  spring  of  1861  Queen 
Victoria  issued  a  proclamation  of  neutrality  forbidding  British 
subjects  to  give  aid  to  the  combatants  of  either  side  and  recog 
nizing  the  Confederate  States  as  a  belligerent  power.3  This  proc 
lamation  virtually  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  United  States  to 
blockade  the  Confederate  ports  and  to  cut  off  their  supplies.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  recognized  the  Confederate  flag  on  the  ocean 
and  so  made  the  Confederate  cruisers  privateers  instead  of  pirates 

(§  450). 

France  and  the  other  commercial  powers  of  Europe  followed 
the  example  of  Great  Britain.  Russia  remained  friendly  to  the 
Union  cause,  and. in  1863,  when  the  success  of  that  cause  looked 
doubtful,  a  fleet  of  Russian  war  ships  came  into  the  harbor  of  New 
York.  This  visit  was  understood  to  be  a  sign  of  the  czar's  good 
will  toward  us.4  Later  in  the  war,  Confederate  commissioners 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  32. 

2  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  82. 

3  The  United  States  was  soon  forced  to  do  the  same  thing  (§  460). 

4  See  Punch's  cartoon  of  Lincoln  holding  a  candle  for  the  Russian  bear,  Novem- 
ber  7,  1863. 


454          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1861 

attempted  to  obtain  the  recognition  of  southern  independence  by 
the  pope,  but  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church  simply  expressed 
the  wish  to  see  the  conflict  ended  and  "  peace  restored." 

The  English  press  with  few  exceptions  favored  the  cause  of 
disunion.  Punch  had  nothing  but  ridicule  for  the  terrible  struggle, 
and  the  London  Times  hastened  to  declare  that  "American  insti 
tutions"  had  "  collapsed."  Carlyle  said  of  the  war  that  it  was  "  the 
foulest  chimney  of  the  century  burning  out."  English  "  society  " 
and  the  commercial  classes  generally  shared  this  feeling.  The  former 
accused  the  North  of  "  fighting  for  empire  " ;  the  latter  saw  that 
the  success  of  the  South  promised  to  secure  free  trade  for  British 
goods  in  exchange  for  cotton.  But  John  Bright,  John  Stuart  Mill, 
and  the  Duke  of  Argyll  stood  firmly  by  the  Union ;  so  too  did 
the  London  Daily  News.  Notwithstanding  the  queen's  procla 
mation  of  neutrality,  English  capital  furnished  fleet  steamers  to 
run  the  blockade  and  to  supply  the  Confederates  with  arms  of  the 
latest  pattern.  The  great  mass  of  the  English  people,  however, 
never  lost  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  North ;  no  hard 
ships  or  privations  could  induce  the  starving  cotton  spinners  of 
Lancashire  to  lift  a  finger  in  favor  of  opening  the  Confederate 
ports  or  of  recognizing  Confederate  independence.  This  cordial 
feeling  toward  the  Union  has  since  gained  ground  among  all 
classes;  and  the  relations  now  existing  between  the  two  great 
English-speaking  nations  of  the  globe  are  such  as  do  honor  to  both. 

458.  The  Sanitary  and  the  Christian  Commissions ;  the  work 
ing  army  and  the  fighting  army.  Soon  after  the  war  broke  out 
the  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions  were  organized  to  give 
aid  and  relief  to  sick  and  wounded  Union  soldiers,  to  furnish 
them  books  and  newspapers,  and  to  minister  to  their  spiritual  as 
well  as  their  bodily  needs.  Both  did  a  noble  work  in  a  noble  way. 

Throughout  the  war  there  were  two  armies  engaged  in  battling 
for  the  Union ;  one  fought  in  the  field,  while  the  other  worked  at 
home  to  maintain,  aid,  and  comfort  those  who  had  gone  to  "  the 
front."  In  this  home  work  women  took  a  leading  part.  They  did 
as  much  toward  saving  the  nation  as  the  men.  They  gave  their 


1861]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  455 

labor,  their  zeal,  their  tears,  their  prayers,  —  in  a  deep  and  true 
sense  they  laid  down  their  lives  for  the  cause.  They  organized 
and  carried  on  more  than  seven  thousand  local  societies,  all  tribu 
tary  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  they  sent  many  millions  of 
dollars'  worth  of  articles  to  be  distributed  by  that  commission. 

In  every  city  and  hamlet  throughout  the  North  they  met  from 
week  to  week  to  work  for  their  husbands,  sons,  brothers,  and 
friends  who  had  gone  to  the  front.  They  rolled  bandages,  scraped 
lint,  prepared  delicacies  for  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  in  many 
ways  made  the  soldier  realize  that  his  welfare  held  the  highest 
place  in  their  hearts.  Without  the  efforts  of  the  grand  army  of 
fighters  the  Union  could  not  have  been  saved ;  without  the  efforts 
of  the  grand  army  of  workers  those  who  fought  could  not  have 
held  out  to  final  victory. 

At  the  South  the  same  intense  devotion  was  shown,  and  the 
sacrifices  which  the  people  made  in  behalf  of  the  Confederate 
forces  were  even  greater,  because  their  means  were  more  limited. 
To-day  the  South  is  glad  that  it  failed,  for  it  sees  that  the  success 
of  the  Union  did  not  mean  the  triumph  of  one  section  over  the 
other,  but  the  reconstruction  of  the  entire  nation  on  broader  and 
higher  lines  which  secure  the  welfare  of  North  and  South  alike. 

459.  Recapitulation  of  the  object  of  the  war;  Union  plan  of 
campaign.  The  South  began  the  contest  with  the  avowed  object 
of  breaking  away  from  the  Union  and  setting  up  an  independent 
slaveholding  Confederacy.  The  North  reluctantly  accepted  the 
challenge  hurled  by  the  batteries  which  fired  on  Sumter.  The 
object  of  the  national  government  was  not  to  subjugate  the  South 
(§  451),  not  to  liberate  her  slaves  (§  472),  but  simply  and  solely 
"  to  defend  and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and 
preserve  the  Union."  The  issue  was  not  sought  by  the  North, 
but  was  forced  upon  it,  because,  as  Lincoln  said,  secession  meant 
"  immediate  dissolution  or  blood." 

The  President  (May  3,  1861)  called  for  40,000  more  volunteers 
and  directed  an  increase  of  20,000  in  the  regular  army.  General 
Scott  had  strengthened  the  garrison  at  Fort  Monroe  (§  450)  and 


456          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1861 

was  encircling  Washington  with  earthworks.  His  plan  was  to 
surround  the  Confederate  States  and  attack  them  simultaneously 
at  every  point  by  land  and  sea;  this  was  what  the  newspapers 
called  "  Scott's  anaconda." 

Later,  the  plan  adopted  was :  (i)  to  maintain  a  strict  blockade 
along  the  Confederate  coast  and  at  the  same  time  force  open  the 
Confederate  ports;  (2)  to  take  the  Confederate  capital  and  so 
destroy  the  political  as  well  as  the  military  power  concentrated 
there ;  (3)  to  open  the  Mississippi  and  its  southern  tributaries 
which  the  South  had  seized  and  fortified  ;  (4)  to  break  through  the 
Confederate  line  in  the  West,  march  an  army  to  the  Atlantic, 
and  thence  northward. 

460.  McClellan  in  West  Virginia;  Bull  Run.  The  contest 
opened  in  West  Virginia.  McClellan  drove  out  the  Confederates 
(May-June,  1861)  and  reported  that  he  had  killed  secession 
in  that  region.  The  Union  line  (see  map  facing  page  413) 
extended  from  Fort  Monroe  along  the  southern  bank  of  the  Poto 
mac  to  Harpers  Ferry  and  thence  southwesterly  through  Ken 
tucky  to  the  Mississippi  just  below  Cairo,  Illinois;  thence 
northwesterly  through  Missouri  to  Fort  Leavenworth  and  onward 
toward  the  Pacific.  The  total  number  of  Union  troops  was  about 
180,000,  confronted  by  a  Confederate  army  of  about  150,000. 

As  the  summer  wore  on  the  newspapers  became  impatient. 
The  northern  press  cried,  "  On  to  Richmond  ";  the  southern, 
"  On  to  Washington."  Scott  himself  was  too  old  and  infirm  to 
take  the  field  ;  he  did  not  think  the  Union  army  ready  to  advance, 
but,  yielding  to  pressure,  reluctantly  ordered  McDowell  to  move 
against  Beauregard.  The  Union  men  started  out  as  if  on  a  holi 
day  excursion,  stopping  to  pick  blackberries  as  they  went  along. 

The  first  great  battle  of  the  war  ensued  (July  21,  1861)  at 
Bull  Run.1  The  forces  engaged  were  of  equal  strength,  but, 

1  Official  estimates  give  the  Union  forces  engaged  at  about  18,000;  Confederate 
forces  engaged  at  about  18,000.  Union  loss,  2896;  Confederate  loss,  1982.  No 
absolutely  accurate  returns  are  obtainable.  See  the  Century  Company's  Battles 
and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,  I,  194,  195.  In  all  reports  of  battles  General 
Grant's  statement  should  be  borne  in  mind.  He  says,  in  speaking  of  the.  strength 


REFERENCE 

Approximate  limit  occupied  by 

U.S.  Troops  Jan.  f,  i86i 
Sherman's  March 

Railroads  | 1  Union  States 

Blockade     f^  Early  Secession 
Forts  I         I  Later        "        > 


MAP  OF  THE 

STATES,  1861-1865 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION 


457 


P     E 


Chambers 

N    N     S 


as  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  admits,  the  Confederates  had 
the  great  advantage  of  being  strongly  posted  and  of  fighting  on 
the  defensive.  The  beginning  of  the  battle  promised  the  success 
of  the  Union  troops ;  but  Johnston  brought  up  reinforcements, 
and  at  a  critical  moment  General  Jackson,  whose  stubborn 
steadfastness  here  gained  him  the  name  of  "  Stonewall "  Jackson, 
checked  the  fed 
eral  advance  by  a 
bayonet  charge. 

Immediately 
afterward  fresh 
Confederate  reen- 
forcements  came 
up  by  rail  from  the 
Shenandoah  Val 
ley,  struck  the 
Union  troops  a 
sudden  and  ter 
rible  blow  on  the 
flank,  and  drove 
them  from  the 
field.  Their 
broken  ranks, 
drenched  by  pour 
ing  rain  and  dis- 
heartened  by 
defeat,  rushed  into 
Washington ;  but  the  Confederates  made  no  attempt  to  follow. 
In  fact,  many  left  the  southern  army  and  went  home,  thinking 
that  they  had  already  conquered  a  peace.  The  national  govern 
ment  did  not  lose  heart,  but  rose  to  meet  the  emergency.  That 

of  the  Union  armies  in  the  field,  that  all  present  were  generally  counted,  while  the 
Confederates  counted  none  but  the  actual  combatants,  in  other  words,  the  effective 
strength  of  their  forces.  See  Grant's  Memoirs,  II,  290.  So,  too,  the  estimate  of 
losses  cannot  be  taken  in  any  instance  as  entirely  reliable.  See  Plasterer's  "  Statis 
tical  Record,"  in  Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War,  page  213. 


458          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [i«tt 

very  day  (July  22,  1861)  the  special  session  of  Congress  (§  450) 
voted  to  raise  500,000  three-years'  men  to  prosecute  the  war, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  House  passed  a  resolution  declaring 
that  the  sole  object  of  the  government  was  "  to  defend  and 
maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and  to  preserve  the 
Union  with  all  the  dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several 
states  unimpaired ;  and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accom 
plished  the  war  ought  to  cease."  The  Senate  adopted  a  similar 
resolution.1 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Union  defeat  at  Bull  Run  compelled 
the  United  States  to  make  arrangements  for  the  regular  exchange 
of  prisoners  of  war.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  the  national 
government  felt  obliged  to  recognize  the  Confederates  as  belliger 
ents  (§  457),  and  to  give  up  the  policy  of  treating  the  Confederate 
privateers  as  pirates  (§450). 

461.  u  Drill  and  organize  !  "  McClellan  ;  Missouri ;  the  Atlantic 
coast.  Throughout  the  North  the  cry  now  went  up,  "  Drill  and 
organize  !  "  and  McClellan  (§  460)  was  put  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  When  Scott  retired  in  November  (1861) 
McClellan  was  made  General  Commander  of  the  land  forces  of 
the  United  States.2 

McClellan  spent  the  remainder  of  1861  in  converting  an  army 
of  civilians  —  many  of  whom  had  never  handled  a  gun  in  their  lives 
-  into  an  army  of  disciplined  soldiers.  In  this  respect  he  did  a 
great  work  and  prepared  the  way  for  Union  success.  General 
Meade,  the  victor  at  Gettysburg,  said,  "  Had  there  been  no 
McClellan  there  could  have  been  no  Grant." 


1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  Nos.  5,  6. 

2  The  armies  of  the  United  States  were  commanded  by  the  President  as  Com 
mander  in  Chief  under  the  Constitution,  and  under  him,  as  General  Commanders,  by 
Lieutenant  General  Winfield  Scott  until  November  6, 1861 ;  followed  by  Major  General 
George  B.  McClellan  until  March  u,  1862  (from  March  n  to  July  12,  1862,  there 
was  no  General  Commander) ;  Major  General  Henry  W.  Halleckfrom  July  12, 1862, 
to  March  12, 1864;  Lieutenant  General  U.  S.  Grant  from  March  12, 1864,  to  March  4, 
1869.     On  the  Confederate  side  General  Braxton  Bragg  held  the  office  of  military 
adviser  to  Jefferson    Davis  from   February    24,    1864,    to   November  of  that  year. 
Robert  E.  Lee  was  the  first  General  in  Chief;  he  was  appointed  February  6.  1865. 


DEFENSES  OF  WASHINGTON 
Showing  the  girdle  of  sixty  forts  which  protected  it  during  the  war 


459 


460        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1861-1862 

In  the  West,  Confederate  forces  from  Arkansas  and  Texas  had 
invaded  Missouri  and  had  made  a  desperate  effort  to  carry  the 
state  over  to  secession.  But  the  Union  sentiment  was  strong 
under  such  leaders  as  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.;  and  General  Lyon, 
succeeded  by  Fremont  and  Halleck,  gradually  drove  the  invaders 
southward.1  They  were  finally  routed  with  great  slaughter  at  Pea 
Ridge,  Arkansas  (March  7-8,  1862). 

On  the  Atlantic  coast,  Union  naval  expeditions  took  the  Con 
federate  forts  (1861)  at  Hatteras  Inlet,  Hilton  Head,  and  Port 
Royal  on  the  coast  of  the  Carolinas ;  Roanoke  Island,  Newbern, 
and  other  points  were  captured  later.  These  victories  secured 
ports  of  refuge  for  the  blockading  squadron  and  established 
important  bases  for  military  operations  against  the  interior. 

462.  The  "  Trent"  affair;  seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell.  In 
the  autumn  of  1861  Jefferson  Davis  sent  James  M.  Mason,  the 
originator  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act  of  1850  (§  414),  and  ex- 
Senator  John  Slidell  of  Louisiana  to  Europe  as  Confederate 
commissioners  to  obtain  aid  for  the  southern  cause.  They  ran 
the  blockade  and  embarked  as  "  missionaries  "  at  Havana  on  the 
British  mail  steamer  Trent.  Captain  Wilkes,  in  command  of  the 
United  States  sloop  of  war  San  Jacinto,  lay  in  wait  for  the  Trent. 
When  she  hove  in  sight  he  forced  her  to  stop  (November  8, 
1861),  seized  the  Confederate  commissioners,  and  carried  them 
to  Fort  Warren  in  Boston  harbor.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
officially  congratulated  Captain  Wilkes  on  his  capture  of  "  these 
public  enemies,"  and  the  House  of  Representatives  requested  the 
President  to  present  him  with  a  gold  medal. 

The  President,  however,  said  he  feared  that  we  had  simply 
caught  a  couple  of  "  white  elephants,"  and  added,  "  We  fought 
Great  Britain  (in  1812)  for  insisting  ...  on  the  right  to  do 
precisely  what  Captain  Wilkes  has  done." 


1  The  chief  fighting  in  Missouri  was  at  Wilson's  Creek,  where  the  Union  forces 
were  overpowered  by  greatly  superior  numbers.  The  only  fighting  in  Virginia  during 
this  time  was  at  Ball's  Bluff  (October  22,  1861),  where  the  national  forces  were 
defeated. 


1861-1862]  THE  WAR  OF  SECESSION  461 

• 

The  queen's  proclamation  of  neutrality  (§  457)  expressly  for 
bade  her  subjects  carrying  "officers,  soldiers,"  or  "dispatches" 
for  either  party  in  the  Civil  War ;  but  the  English  government 
denied  that  we  were  justified  in  seizing  the  Confederate  com 
missioners.  It  demanded  their  prompt  surrender  and  a  proper 
apology  for  the  affront  to  the  British  flag,  and  hurried  off  troops 
to  Canada  with  regimental  bands  gayly  playing  "  Dixie "  as 
they  sailed. 

In  the  correspondence  that  ensued  Secretary  Seward  stated  in 
the  smoothest  diplomatic  language  that  he  was  happy  to  find  that 
England  now  condemned  the  right  of  search  (§  264),  hitherto  so 
stoutly  maintained  by  her.  He  congratulated  her  on  having  at 
length  become  a  convert  to  the  American  principle  which  had 
compelled  us  to  protest  against  the  exercise  of  such  a  pretended 
right.  He  closed  by  saying  that,  since  the  British  nation  now 
asked  us  to  do  to  her  just  what  we  had  always  insisted  all  nations 
ought  to  do  to  us,  we  could  not  consistently  refuse  to  give  up 
Mason  and  Slidell.  They  soon  sailed  for  England,  but  the  Lon 
don  Times  gave  them  anything  but  a  complimentary  welcome, 
saying,  "We  should  have  done  just  as  much  to  rescue  two  of 
their  own  negroes."  Later,  when  Louis  Napoleon  asked  if  the 
English  Cabinet  would  join  him  in  recognizing  the  independence 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  that  body  declined.  Gladstone, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Cabinet,  said  that  it  made  the  decision 
"without  qualification,  hesitation,  delay,  or  dissent."  In  the 
end  the  commissioners  failed  to  obtain  the  official  recognition 
of  any  European  power  and  accomplished  nothing  in  behalf  of 
secession. 

463.  Fighting  at  the  West;  Grant  takes  Fort  Henry  and  Fort 
Donelson.  In  the  West,  in  the  autumn  of  1862,  the  Confederate 
general  A.  S.  Johnston  held  an  irregular  line  extending  from  the 
Cumberland  Mountains  through  Mill  Springs  and  Bowling  Green, 
Kentucky,  to  the  bluffs  at  Columbus  on  the  Mississippi.  Aside 
from  Columbus,  the  two  points  of  supreme  importance  on  this 
line  were  Fort  Henry  and  Fort  Donelson,  about  twelve  miles 


462 


THE   STUDENT'S    AMERICAN   HISTORY 


[1862 


apart,  on  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  rivers.  Halleck,  with 
his  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  was  then  in  command  of  the  depart 
ment  of  the  Missouri,  which  embraced  western  Kentucky.  Grant 
was  stationed  at  Cairo,  Illinois ;  and  Buell,  with  Thomas,  was  in 
command  of  the  Union  forces  directly  opposing  Johnston's  line. 

The  campaign  began  in  January,  1862,  by  a  battle  at  Mill 
Springs,  Kentucky,  in  which  Thomas  gained  a  brilliant  victory 
and  drove  the  Confederates  out  of  eastern  Kentucky.  General 
Grant,  supported  by  Commodore  Foote's  gunboats,  then  moved 


SCALE  OF  MIT.ES 


against  Fort  Henry  and  took  it  (February  6,  1862).  He  next 
moved  against  Fort  Donelson.  On  the  third  day  of  the  battle 
(February  16,  1862)  Buckner,  the  Confederate  commander,  asked 
what  terms  his  assailant  would  concede  in  return  for  the  capitula 
tion  of  the  fort.  Grant  at  once  replied,  "  No  terms  except  an 
unconditional  and  immediate  surrender."  Buckner  could  not 
help  himself,  and  promptly  accepted  Grant's  ultimatum. 

This  victory  was  the  most  important  which  the  national  troops 
had  thus  far  gained.     It  opened  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland 


1862]  THE   WAR.  OF   SECESSION  463 

rivers  for  a  long  distance  and  compelled  the  Confederates  to  aban 
don  their  stronghold  at  Columbus.  This  gave  the  Union  army  the 
control  of  the  Mississippi  as  far  south  as  Island  Number  Ten. 

464.  The  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  or  Shiloh ;  capture  of 
Island  Number  Ten  ;  Corinth.    Grant  now  moved  up  the  Tennes 
see  River  for   the  purpose  of  capturing  the  great   Confederate 
railway  center  at  Corinth,  Mississippi.     He  halted  at  Pittsburg 
Landing,  or  Shiloh,  for  Buell  to  come  up  from  Nashville  and  join 
him.     Before  that  general  could    arrive,   A.   S.  Johnston,   with 
superior  numbers,  suddenly  attacked  the  Union  forces  (April  6, 
1862).     Johnston  drove  back  Grant's  army,  but  was  killed  in  the 
thick  of  the  fight  and  Beauregard  took  command. 

By  the  next  morning  Buell's  reinforcements  came  up.  Grant 
now  had  the  larger  force.  By  nightfall  (April  7,  1862)  he  had 
gained  the  day  and  the  Confederates  were  in  full  retreat.  In  his 
report  Grant  said  :  "  I  am  indebted  to  General  Sherman  for  the 
success  of  that  battle.  It  was,"  he  said,  "  the  severest  engage 
ment1  fought  at  the  West  during  the  war."  Grant  was  sharply 
blamed  for  his  management  of  the  first  day's  battle  and  the  Presi 
dent  was  urged  to  remove  him.  He  deliberated  for  a  time  and 
then  said,  "  I  can't  spare  this  man ;  he  fights." 

On  the  day  following  the  victory  at  Pittsburg  Landing  the 
Confederates  surrendered  Island  Number  Ten  to  the  federal 
forces  commanded  by  Commodore  Foote  and  General  Pope. 
This  opened  the  Mississippi  down  to  Vicksburg.  In  May  Hal- 
leek  moved  on  Corinth.  Beauregard  had  not  strength  to  hold  it; 
he  withdrew  and  the  Union  army  took  possession  of  this  important 
railway  center. 

465.  Battle  of  the  "  Merrimac  "  and  the  "  Monitor."    Shortly 
after  Virginia  seceded  (§  451)  the  federal  officer  in  charge  of  the 
armory  at  Harpers  Ferry  destroyed  and  abandoned  it.     Follow 
ing  his  example,  the  federal  officer  in  command  at  the  Norfolk 

1  Grant  says  his  effective  force  at  Pittsburg  Landing  on  April  6  was  33,000 ; 
Wallace  and  Buell  brought  him,  after  the  first  day's  battle,  25,000  more.  The 
Confederate  force  was  about  40,000.  Union  loss,  13,047;  Confederate  loss,  10,669. 


464        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1861-1862 

navy  yard  abandoned  that  important  station  with  about  2000 
cannon.  He  set  fire  to  the  government  buildings  and  scuttled 
and  sunk  the  national  war  vessels.  Among  the  ships  thus  de 
stroyed  was  the  steam  frigate  Merrimac.  The  Confederates 
raised  the  hulk  and  converted  it  into  a  powerful  ironclad  ram, 
which  they  christened  the  Virginia. 

Early  in  the  spring  (March  8,  1862)  this  formidable  floating 
fort,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Buchanan,  sailed  out  and 
attacked  the  federal  fleet  of  wooden  war  ships  lying  in  Hampton 
Roads.  Making  a  dash  at  the  Cumberland,  the  Virginia  cut  that 
vessel  nearly  in  two  and  sent  her  to  the  bottom  with  a  hundred 
sick  and  wounded  men.  The  Virginia  next  captured  the  Con 
gress,  set  her  on  fire,  and  blew  her  up.  The  Confederate  iron 
clad  then  retired  to  Norfolk,  intending  to  complete  her  work  of 
destruction  the  next  day. 

The  news  of  this  disaster  caused  great  alarm  at  Washington. 
The  President  hastily  summoned  a  Cabinet  council.  Stanton,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  expressed  the  fear  that  the  "rebel  monster" 
might  even  then  be  on  her  way  up  the  Potomac.  "  It  is  not 
unlikely,"  said  he,  "  that  we  shall  have  a  shell  or  a  cannon  ball 
from  one  of  her  guns  in  the  White  House  before  we  leave  this 
room." 

That  night,  lighted  by  the  flames  of  the  burning  Congress, 
Ericsson's  Monitor,  under  the  command  of  the  gallant  Lieutenant 
Worden,  steamed  into  Hampton  Roads.  She  was  an  iron  vessel 
built  on  a  new  pattern,  having  a  revolving  turret  set  on  a  deck 
nearly  level  with  the  water.  On  Sunday  morning  (March  9, 
1862)  when  the  Virginia  appeared  she  found  the  diminutive 
Monitor  waiting  for  her.  The  Confederates  laughed  at  this 
Yankee  "cheese  box  on  a  raft";  but  the  "cheese  box"  fought 
so  effectively  that  the  Virginia  finally  retired  to  Norfolk,  leaving 
Ericsson's  "little  giant"  practically  master  of  the  situation. 
When  McClellan  advanced  up  the  peninsula  in  May  (1862)  the 
Confederates  abandoned  Norfolk  and  blew  up  their  famous  but 
discomfited  ironclad. 


1861-1862]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  465 

The  Monitor  had  not  only  saved  the  remaining  vessels  of  the 
federal  fleet,  but  had  probably  saved  Washington.  Had  the  Vir 
ginia  come  off  victor,  she  might  have  steamed  up  the  Potomac 
and  shelled  the  national  capital,  besides  doing  incalculable  damage 
in  other  directions. 

This  conflict  between  the  two  ironclads  revolutionized  naval 
warfare  throughout  the  world.  It  sent  wooden  war  ships  to  the 
rear  and  brought  iron  vessels  to  the  front. 

466.  Summary  of  the  first  year  of  the  war  (April,  i86i-April, 
1862).  The  capture  of  Fort  Sumter  was  immediately  followed  by 
the  President's  call  for  troops,  the  uprising  of  the  North,  and  the 
organization  of  the  Confederate  force  in  the  South.  The  Union 
defeat  at  Bull  Run  led  to  a  call  for  500,000  more  federal  soldiers. 

In  the  West,  the  Confederates  were  driven  out  of  Missouri,  and 
their  line  of  defense  was  broken  in  Kentucky.  Grant  took  Forts 
Henry  and  Donelson  and  thus  compelled  the  evacuation  of  Colum 
bus  on  the  Mississippi.  Grant  then  defeated  Johnston  at  the 
terrible  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  thus  preparing  the  way  for 
the  capture  of  Corinth.  Island  Number  Ten  was  next  captured 
and  the  Mississippi  opened  down  to  Vicksburg. 

On  the  water  we  have  the  seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  the 
capture  of  important  Confederate  ports  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
the  great  battle  between  the  Merrimac  and  the  Monitor. 


SECOND  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  (APRIL,  I862-APRIL,  1863) 

467.  The  capture  of  New  Orleans  and  its  results.  President 
Lincoln  declared  that  he  considered  the  Mississippi  "  the  back 
bone  of  the  rebellion."  In  the  spring  of  1862  Captain  Farragut, 
commanding  the  most  powerful  naval  expedition  that  had  ever 
sailed  under  the  United  States  flag,  started  from  Fort  Monroe 
to  capture  New  Orleans  and  fracture,  if  not  break,  the  "  back 
bone."  The  land  forces  of  the  expedition  were  under  General 
Butler.  The  fleet  numbered  nearly  fifty  wooden  vessels,  carrying 


466          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1862 

over  two  hundred  guns,  besides  a  fleet  of  mortar  boats  under 
Commander  Porter. 

Farragut  had  no  easy  task  before  him.  In  order  to  reach  New 
Orleans  he  must  break  through  a  line  of  hulks  chained  together 
across  the  Mississippi,  just  below  the  forts  of  St.  Philip  and 
Jackson  ;  he  must  next  run  past  the  guns  of  those  forts,  steer 
clear  of  the  fire  rafts  sent  to  destroy  his  wooden  vessels,  and 
finally  fight  a  fleet  of  gunboats,  which  included  two  ironclad 
rams  constructed  on  the  pattern  of  the  Virginia  (§  465). 

Porter  began  to  shell  the  forts  on  April  18  (1862),  and  just 
one  week  from  that  day  Farragut's  fleet,  "  silent,  grim,  terrible," 
anchored  in  front  of  the  blazing  levees  of  New  Orleans.  Four 
days  later,  the  city  formally  surrendered,  the  "  stars  and  stripes  " 
were  hoisted  above  the  customhouse,  and  the  national  forces  trium 
phantly  held  the  gateway  of  the  river  artery  of  the  American  conti 
nent.  Mason  and  Slidell  (§462)  wrote  from  Europe  that  the  fall 
of  the  chief  port  of  the  Confederate  States  had  probably  given  the 
deathblow  to  European  recognition  of  southern  independence. 

Farragut,  having  accomplished  his  great  work,  moved  up  the 
Mississippi  against  the  Confederate  strongholds  at  Port  Hudson 
and  Vicksburg;  but  the  situation  of  these  fortifications  on  high 
bluffs  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  attack  them  successfully 
without  the  cooperation  of  a  powerful  land  force. 

468.  McClellan  begins  his  Peninsular  Campaign  ;  "  Stonewall  " 
Jackson's  raid.  Meanwhile  McClellan  began  the  second  advance 
(§  460)  on  Richmond.  The  Confederate  capital  was  protected  from 
a  direct  movement  from  the  north  by  several  rivers  and  many  small 
streams,  and  by  a  dense  tangled  forest  known  as  the  "  Wilderness." 
On  the  east  the  peninsula  between  the  York  and  the  James  rivers  is 
low  and  swampy,  and  heavy  rains  make  it  almost  impassable ;  but 
as  the  distance  from  Fort  Monroe  on  the  peninsula  to  Richmond  is 
but  little  more  than  half  what  it  is  by  direct  march  from  Wash 
ington,  McClellan  decided  in  favor  of  the  short  eastern  route. 

Leaving  about  36,000  troops  to  hold  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
and  northern  Virginia,  and  McDowell  at  Fredericksburg  with 


18G2]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  467 

40,000  troops  to  protect  the  national  capital,  he  transported  his 
superb  army  of  100,000  men  to  Fort  Monroe.  Early  in  April 
(1862),  he  began  to  move  up  the  peninsula.  A  part  of  Joseph  E. 
Johnston's  force  barred  the  way  at  Yorktown.  Here  McClellan 
spent  a  month  getting  his  siege  guns  in  position.  Just  as  he  was 
ready  to  open  fire  the  Confederates  abandoned  their  works  and 
fell  back  to  Williamsburg,  where  an  indecisive  battle  was  fought 
(May  5,  1862). 

McClellan  then  asked  the  War  Department  to  send  him  every 
man  that  could  be  spared.  The  President  promised  to  send 
McDowell's  army ;  but  just  then  "Stonewall"  Jackson  (§460), 
with  his  famous  "foot  cavalry,"  dashed  down  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  and  "  hustled"  Banks  out  of  it  and  across  the  Potomac.1 
Jackson's  sudden  movement  created  such  consternation  at  Wash 
ington  that  McDowell's  40,000  men  were  withheld  from  McClellan 
to  defend  the  national  capital. 

Jackson  then  turned  and,  keeping  up  a  running  fight,  moved 
with  such  celerity  that  before  McDowell  could  get  a  chance  to 
strike  him  he  had  joined  the  main  body  of  the  Confederate  forces 
in  the  vicinity  of  Richmond.  He  arrived  in  season  to  cooperate 
with  Lee  in  his  attack  on  McClellan,  whose  army  was  strad 
dling  the  Chickahominy  River  and  floundering  in  the  mud.  If 
McClellan's  success  depended  on  his  getting  heavy  reenforce- 
ments,  then  Jackson  had  completely  upset  his  plans. 

469.  Fair  Oaks ;  the  Seven  Days'  battles.  There  was  sharp 
fighting  (May  3i-June  i,  1862)  at  Fair  Oaks,  or  Seven  Pines. 
In  this  action  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  severely  wounded,  and  a 
few  days  later,  Robert  E.  Lee  was  put  in  command  of  the  Confed 
erate  forces  in  Virginia.  Only  a  short  time  before,  General  Lee 
had  severely  condemned  slavery,  and  deprecated  disunion  ;  but  he 
now  decided  to  draw  his  sword  in  behalf  of  both.2 


1  Official  estimate  :  The  strength  of  Jackson's  command  is  not  stated,  but  Confed 
erate  authorities  give  him  an  effective  force  of  from  16,000  to  17,000.     The  effective 
strength  of  Banks'  command  on  April  30,  1861,  was  reported  at  9178. 

2  See  Lee's  Letters  (1856,  1861),  cited  in  Long's  Life  of  Lee,  83,  88. 


468 


THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


McClellan  now  found  himself  cut  off  from  his  base  of  supplies 
on  the  York  River,  and  was  forced  to  set  out  for  the  James  River 
to  establish  a  new  base.  After  seven  days  of  terrible  fighting, 
ending  with  the  federal  victory  of  Malvern  Hill  (July  i,  1862), 
the  Union  commander  reached  Harrison  Landing  on  the  James, 
where  he  could  receive  the  support  of  the  fleet  of  federal  gun 
boats.  Later,  his  forces  were  moved  back  to  the  vicinity  of 

Washington,  and  the 
President  issued  a  call 
for  300,000  more  men 
(§  5o8). 

McClellan  attributed 
his  failure  to  take  Rich 
mond  to  Secretary  Stan- 
ton.  He  accused  him 
of  willfully  holding  back 
reinforcements,  and 
wrote  to  him,  "You 
have  done  your  best  to 
sacrifice  this  army." 
Military  writers  give 
McClellan  credit  for  one 
of  the  most  "brilliant 
retreats  "  ever  executed  in  the  face  of  an  enemy.  Lincoln  wrote 
to  him,  "  All  accounts  say  better  fighting  was  never  done."  But 
the  Union  losses  in  the  campaign  had  been  very  heavy ; 1  and, 
though  the  Confederates  had  suffered  greater  losses,  the  North 
demanded  that  the  next  advance  against  Richmond  should  be 
led  by  a  new  commander. 

470.  Pope  takes  the  reins ;  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run. 
Halleck  (§  463)  was  now  (July  12,  1862)  called  from  the  West  and 
made  General  in  Chief  of  the  Union  forces.  General  Pope  had 
done  good  service  in  the  campaign  against  Island  Number  Ten 


1  Official  estimate :  Effective  Union  force,  105,445;  Confederate  force,  80,000  to 
90,000.    Union  loss,  15,849;  Confederate  loss,  20,135. 


1862]  THE   WAR   OF    SECESSION  469 

(§  464),  and  he  was  put  in  command  of  a  newly  organized  force, 
the  "Army  of  Virginia,"  intended  to  operate  against  Richmond. 
It  was  understood  that  part  of  McClellan's  army  would  be  taken 
to  reenforce  Pope. 

Pope  proposed  to  move  straight  on  the  enemy  and  declared 
that  he  should  establish  his  headquarters  "  in  the  saddle."  He 
issued  orders  to  his  army  to  subsist  on  the  country  through  which 
they  moved,  to  hold  the  people  responsible  for  Union  property 
destroyed  by  "  rebel  raids,"  and  to  send  all  secessionists  out  of 
the  federal  lines.  Pope  advanced  to  the  Rappahannock  and 
there  halted  for  reinforcements.  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson  saw  his 
opportunity :  aided  by  Stuart's  cavalry,  he  hurried  down  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  passed  through  a  gap  in  the  mountains,  got 
into  the  federal  rear  at  Manassas,  and  captured  or  destroyed  a 
large  part  of  Pope's  stores  of  ammunition  and  supplies.* 

A  few  days  later,  the  Union  commander  met  Lee's  army  near 
the  old  battlefield  of  Bull  Run,  or  Manassas  (§  460).  Pope 
asked  for  reinforcements  and  additional  supplies  of  ammunition, 
but  McClellan  could  not  or  would  not  send  them  to  his  rival 
in  arms.  Notwithstanding  this  disadvantage,  the  Confederate 
General  Longstreet  admits  that  Pope  "made  a  splendid  fight" 
(August  29-September  i,  1862)  ;  but  he  was  badly  beaten.1 
He  fell  back  to  Washington,  where  his  army  was  united  with  the 
"Army  of  the  Potomac,"  and  McClellan  received  the  command. 

471 .  Lee  enters  Maryland  ;  battles  of  Antietam  and  Fredericks- 
burg.  Lee,  at  the  head  of  60,000  troops,  flushed  with  victory, 
advanced  northward.  Now,  while  the  "Copperheads"  (§456) 
at  the  North  were  rampant  over  Pope's  defeat  he  was  confident 
that  he  could  speedily  conquer  a  peace.  His  gaunt,  barefooted 
men,  "  flaunting  their  rags  in  the  sunshine,"  crossed  the  Potomac 
above  Washington  and  entered  Frederick  City  singing  "  Mary 
land,  my  Maryland " ;  but  Maryland  failed  to  respond.  Lee 

1  Official  estimate  :  Union  army,  not  less  than  64,000 ;  Confederate  army,  about 
54,000.  Phisterer  gives  the  Union  loss  (August  28-September  i)  at  16,000  and  the 
Confederate  loss  at  11,500.  *  See  map  on  page  457. 


470        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1862-1863 

issued  a  proclamation  calling  on  the  people  to  rise  and  throw  off 
the  "foreign  yoke  "  of  federal  oppression;  but  not  a  man  rose. 

Less  than  ten  days  later,  McClellan  met  Lee's  army  at  An  tie- 
tarn,  or  Sharpsburg.*  There  occurred  (September  17,  1862)  the 
"  bloodiest  single  day  of  fighting  of  the  war."  Whole  regiments 
of  raw  recruits  went  to  their  graves,  and  the  cornfield  where  the 
chief  part  of  the  battle  raged  was  covered  with  windrows  of 
the  slain.  At  the  end  of  the  terrible  day  Lee  retreated  across 
the  Potomac,  leaving  McClellan  in  possession  of  the  field.1  The 
President  begged  McClellan  not  to  let  Lee  get  off  "  without  being 
hurt";  but  that  general  moved  so  slowly  in  pursuit  that  Lincoln 
finally  lost  all  patience  and  gave  the  command  of  the  Union  army 
(November  5,  1862)  to  Burnside,  who  reluctantly  accepted  the 
perilous  honor  thus  thrust  upon  him. 

When  Burnside  advanced  against  Richmond  he  encountered 
Lee  at  Fredericksburg,|  strongly  intrenched  along  the  hills  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Rappahannock.  The  Union  army  crossed 
the  river  and  attacked  him  (December  13,  1862);  but  neither 
the  "  superb "  Hancock  nor  "  Fighting  Joe "  Hooker  could 
carry  the  heights.  Burnside  lost  heavily  and  was  obliged  to 
retreat.2 

The  next  month  (January  25,  1863)  Hooker  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  "Army  of  the  Potomac,"  but  he  did  not  make 
any  general  movement  against  Lee  until  late  in  the  spring. 

472.  Slavery  and  the  war ;  Butler's  "contrabands."  The  win 
ter  of  1863  was  one  of  the  dark  periods  of  the  contest  for  the 
Union.  The  "  Copperheads,"  like  Vallandigham,  whether  in 
Congress  or  out,  were  denouncing  the  government  as  "  one  of 
the  worst  despotisms  on  earth,"8  and  (§456)  were  uttering 

1  Official  estimate  :  McClellan  reported  the  Union  force  at  87,164,  but  the  brunt 
of  the  battle  was  borne  by  not  above  60,000  of  this  number.     Lee  does  not  give  the 
strength  of  his  army,  but  says  in  his  official  report  that  less  than  40,000  men  on  his 
side  took  part  in  the  battle.     Union  loss,  12,410;  Confederate  loss,  11,172. 

2  Official  estimate:  Effective  Union  force,  113,000;  effective  Confederate  force, 
about  60,000.    Union  loss,  12,653;  Confederate  loss,  5377.      *  See  map  on  page  457. 

8  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  82.  t  See  map  on  page  457. 


1863]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  471 

gloomy  predictions  of  impending  disaster.  At  the  same  time 
"  Bull  Run  "  Russell,  the  correspondent  of  the  London  Times, 
was  busily  engaged  in  Lee's  camp  in  gathering  material  for  a 
history  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  American  Republic.  At 
this  period,  on  New  Year's  Day,  1863,  the  President  issued  his 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation. 

Neither  the  President  nor  Congress  had  looked  forward  to  this 
decisive  action.  Events  had  forced  it.  Lincoln,  as  we  have 
seen  (§  448),  entered  office  making  the  explicit  declaration  that 
he  would  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  slavery  at  the  South. 
After  the  great  contest  in  behalf  of  the  nation's  life  actually 
began,  Secretary  Seward  told  our  minister  at  Paris  that  no  matter 
what  might  be  the  issue  of  the  war,  "  the  condition  of  slavery  " 
would  "remain  just  the  same." 

A  few  months  later  (July  24,  1861),  the  special  session  of 
Congress  (§450)  resolved,  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote,  that  what 
ever  battles  they  might  be  called  upon  to  fight,  they  would  not 
touch  slavery.  This  resolution  met  the  entire  approval  not  only 
of  the  great  body  of  conservative  men  at  the  North  but  of  military 
men  as  well.  Neither  McClellan  nor  any  other  of  the  prominent 
early  leaders  in  the  Union  army  had  any  intention  of  helping  the 
negroes  to  acquire  their  freedom. 

Wendell  Phillips  said  with  truth  that  while  "  the  South  fought 
to  sustain  slavery,  the  North  fought  not  to  have  it  hurt."  The 
northern  people  felt  that  the  Constitution  protected  slavery,  and 
they  would  not  willfully  and  openly  violate  the  great  charter  of 
the  Republic.  They  acknowledged  the  inconsistency  of  battling 
against  secession  and  yet  letting  the  secessionists  have  the  use  of 
the  negro  to  help  the  cause  of  disunion. 

General  Butler  first  saw  how  to  cut  the  knot.  Three  fugitive 
slaves,  the  property  of  a  Confederate  officer  in  Virginia,  fled  to 
him  at  Fort  Monroe  (May  23,  1861)  and  begged  for  protec 
tion.  Butler  knew  that  if  he  returned  them  to  their  master  they 
would  be  sent  South  to  build  "  rebel  fortifications."  The  owner 
of  the  negroes  demanded  their  return  under  the  Fugitive-Slave 


472        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1861-1862 

Law  (§414),  but  General  Butler  refused  to  surrender  them.  He 
declared  that  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act  did  not  affect  a  foreign 
country,  which  Virginia  then  claimed  to  be.1  "  These  men," 
said  he,  "  are  contraband  of  war.  I  will  hold  them  and  use 
them  in  behalf  of  the  Union."  The  word  "contraband  "  struck 
the  slave  system  a  staggering  blow.  Butler  soon  had  nearly  a 
thousand  "contrabands"  at  work  on  the  national  defenses  at 
Fort  Monroe.  His  action  was  officially  approved  by  the  Presi 
dent,  by  Congress,  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  by  a  majority 
of  those  who  were  resolved  to  put  down  secession  if  it  cost  the 
North's  "last  man  and  last  dollar." 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  Congress  passed  (August  6,  1861) 
a  confiscation  act2  setting  free  all  slaves  used  by  the  Confed 
erates  in  military  operations  within  the  seceded  states.  The  Con 
federate  government  retaliated  by  confiscating  all  debts  due  to 
northern  merchants,  and  the  estates  of  all  northern  men  at  the 
South,  unless  they  supported  the  war  against  the  Union.  But 
this  act  of  Congress  did  not  apply  to  the  border  slave  states  or 
to  the  great  mass  of  slaves  in  the  Confederate  States ;  and  when 
General  Fremont  issued  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  in  Mis 
souri  (1861)  and  General  Hunter  did  the  same  (1862)  in  South 
Carolina,  the  President  declared  both  proclamations  void. 

473.  Lincoln's  scheme  of  compensated  emancipation ;  District 
of  Columbia ;  the  territories.  In  his  message  to  Congress  in  the 
spring  of  1862  the  President  strongly  recommended  a  scheme  of 
compensated  emancipation.  He  urged  the  nation  to  offer  to 
"  cooperate  with  any  state  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolition  of 
slavery,"  and  to  give  "  to  such  state  pecuniary  aid."  A  resolu 
tion  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress  to  that  effect,8  but  nothing 
came  of  it,  for  the  South  could  not  see  its  way  toward  giving  up 
African  servitude,  since  aside  from  any  question  of  self-interest 
the  people  of  that  section  felt  that  they  would  be  confronted 
with  the  problem,  of  what  to  do  with  a  large  population  of  free 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  IV,  No.  124. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  Nos.  n  and  24.      3  ibid.,  No.  17. 


1861-1862]  THE   WAR   OF    SECESSION  "  473 

negroes.  A  little  later  (April  16,  1862),  Congress  purchased,  at 
an  expense  of  nearly  a  million  dollars,  the  slaves  held  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  —  about  4000  in  all  —  and  gave  them  their 
liberty.1 

Congress  next  (June  19,  1862)  applied  the  principle  of  the 
Wilmot  Proviso  (§  404)  to  the  territories.  This  act2  set  aside 
"  Popular  Sovereignty"  (§422)  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
(§  434)  by  prohibiting  slavery  forever  within  any  part  of  the 
public  domain. 

474.  Lincoln's  reply  to  Greeley's  letter  on  emancipation.  As  far 
back  as  1836  John  Quincy  Adams  declared  that  if  the  slavery 
question  should  ever  excite  civil  war,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  had  power  to  free  the  negroes.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  one  of 
the  great  Republican  leaders  in  Congress,  urged  the  government 
to  begin  the  work  of  emancipation  and  offered  a  bill  to  that 
effect.  Late  in  the  summer  of  1862  Horace  Greeley  addressed 
an  open  letter  to  the  President.  He  entitled  it  "  The  Prayer  of 
Twenty  Millions,"  and  begged  him  to  enforce  the  recent  acts  of 
Congress  granting  "  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  rebels  coming  within 
our  lines  "  (§  472). 

No  one  detested  negro  bondage  more  than  Lincoln  did.  "  If 
slavery  is  not  wrong,"  said  he,  "  nothing  is  wrong."  No  one  saw 
more  clearly  than  he  that  the  negro  question  was  the  taproot  of 
the  Civil  War.  "  Without  slavery,"  said  he,  "  the  rebellion  could 
never  have  existed ;  without  slavery  it  could  not  continue." 

But  the  President  was  still  uncertain  whether  it  would  be  wise 
for  him  to  take  the  course  which  Stevens  and  Greeley  urged.  In 
reply  to  the  latter's  letter  he  wrote  (August  22,  1862):  "My 
paramount  object  in  this  struggle  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  is  not 
either  to  save  or  to  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union 
without  freeing  any  slave  I  would  do  it ;  and  if  I  could  save  it 
by  freeing  all  the  slaves  I  would  do  it ;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by 
freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone  I  would  also  do  that."  He 
felt  then  that  the  times  were  critical,  and  that  if  he  should  issue  a 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  18.  2  ibid.,  No.  20. 


474       THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1862-1863 

proclamation  of  emancipation  it  might  alienate  the  border  states 
and,  as  he  said,  send  "  50,000  bayonets  "  from  those  states  "  over 
to  the  rebels."  l 

475.  Proclamation  of  warning.    When  Lee  first  entered  Mary 
land  (§  471)  the  President  made  a  solemn  vow  that  if  the  invader 
should  be  driven  back  he  would  send  the  proclamation  after  him. 
Lee  was  driven  back  (§  471)  and  Lincoln  issued  (September  22, 
1862)  a  proclamation  warning  the  seceded  states  that  if  they  did 
not  lay  down  their  arms  and  return  to  their  allegiance  within  one 
hundred  days,  namely,  on  January  i,  1863,  he  should  declare  all 
of  their  slaves  "  forever  free."    The  governors  of  thirteen  loyal 
states,  at  a  meeting  held  at  Altoona,  Pennsylvania,  hailed  this 
action  with  "  heartfelt  gratitude."     At  midnight  of  the  last  day 
of  the  year  (1862)  thousands  of  negroes,  both  bond  and  free, 
prayed  that  God  would  take  pity  on  them  and  would  strengthen 
the  hands  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  carry  out  his  great  purpose  on 
the  following  day. 

476.  The  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  (1863).    Promptly  on 
the  first  day  of  the  New  Year  (1863)  the  President  issued  his  final 
proclamation.2     It  set  free  forever  all  slaves  held  in  the  sections 
then  fighting  against  the  Union.     Thousands  of  these  slaves  were 
then  raising  corn  to  feed  the  Confederate  armies,  and  thousands 
more  were  working  on  Confederate  fortifications.     For  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  war  the  government  had  struck  seces 
sion  at  its  root,  and  had  dealt  it  a  deathblow.     The  President 
declared  that  this  "  act  of  justice  "  was  warranted  "  by  the  Con 
stitution   upon    military    necessity " ;    he    invoked   for   it    "  the 
considerate    judgment   of   mankind  and    the    gracious  favor   of 
Almighty  God."  :      But  further  action  was  necessary  in  order  to 
prevent  the  reestablishment  of  slavery  after  the  war.     For  this 
reason,  two  years  later  (1865),  Congress  passed  the  thirteenth 

i  See  Lincoln's  Works,  II,  227,  235.     2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  28. 

3  The  war  powers  of  the  President,  says  Professor  Burgess,  justified  the  Emancipa 
tion  Proclamation  as  a  temporary  measure  ;  but  they  did  not  authorize  him  "  to  fix  the 
permanent  or  civil  status  of  anybody."  Burgess'  Civil  War,  II,  117. 


REDUCED  COPY  OF  A  PART  OF  THE  EMANCIPATION   PROCLAMATION 
(Jan.  I,   1863) 


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0t*.C.£«*%  O  -ttZZt  CU^Cr  /L^vrf^wtf 


1863]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  475 

amendment  to  the  Constitution.  The  members  of  the  House  then 
joined  in  singing  the  doxology.  The  amendment  confirmed  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation  and  extended  it  to  all  slaves  held 
in  any  part  of  the  United  States  (see  Appendix,  page  xvii). 

The  system  of  African  servitude  which  the  southern  people 
had  inherited  from  the  colonial  period  victimized  master  and 
slave  alike.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Lincoln,  the  son  of  a  "  poor 
white"  (§  176),  to  emancipate  both.  He  completed  the  great 
work  of  the  "  Fathers  of  the  Republic"  by  including  the  negro 
in  that  Declaration  of  Independence  which  affirms  that  all  men 
are  created  with  an  equal  right  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness." 

477.  Economic,  political,  and  military  results  of  emancipation ; 
prisoners  of  war.  From  an  economic  point  of  view  the  act  wrought 
an  industrial  revolution.  The  South  estimated  that  it  had  $  2 ,000,- 
000,000  invested  in  negroes;  the  proclamation  did  not  destroy 
this  investment,  but  simply  transferred  it  to  a  new  owner,  giving 
the  slave  possession  of  himself. 

Politically  speaking,  the  proclamation  temporarily  hurt  the 
administration  and  reduced  the  Republican  majority  in  Congress. 
In  the  end,  however,  it  proved  to  be  a  source  of  strength,  for  it 
changed  the  whole  character  of  the  war.  Hitherto  the  North  had 
been  fighting  to  restore  the  Union  as  it  stood  before  secession,  that 
is,  to  save  "  a  house  divided  against  itself,"  half  free  and  half  slave. 
But  henceforth  the  national  forces  would  fight  to  perfect  the  Union 
by  making  it  wholly  free.  Abroad,  the  proclamation  strengthened 
the  cause  of  the  Union  and  practically  destroyed  the  possibility  of 
foreign  recognition  of  the  Confederacy.1 

Furthermore,  emancipation  had  an  important  military  result. 
It  cleared  the  way  for  the  unrestricted  enlistment  of  the  negro.2 
Before  1863  came  to  a  close  50,000  "  freedmen  "  had  entered 


1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  93. 

2  In  August,  1862,  the  government  of  the  United  States  gave  permission,  for  the 
first  time,  to  the  military  governor  of  the  coast  islands  of  South  Carolina  to  recruit 
5000  volunteers  of  African  descent. 


476          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1863 

the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States.  Under  the  Enrollment 
Act1  of  1864  this  number  was  eventually  increased  to  about 
180,000.  Grant  praised  the  gallant  behavior  of  these  new 
recruits.  At  Vicksburg,  Mobile,  Fort  Wagner,  Fort  Pillow,  and 
other  points  they  mingled  their  blood  with  that  of  the  white 
soldiers  who  gave  their  lives  for  the  Republic. 

The  Confederate  authorities  refused  (May  i,  1863)  to  exchange 
negro  prisoners  of  war  or  their  white  officers  captured  in  battle. 
As  the  United  States  felt  obliged  to  protect  all,  whether  black  or 
white,  who  entered  its  service,  the  national  government  refused 
to  exchange  at  all  until  the  South  would  recede  from  the  stand  it 
had  taken.  This  deadlock  led  to  the  frightful  overcrowding  and 
terrible  mortality  at  Aridersonville  and  other  Confederate  prisons.2 
Later,  the  need  of  men  forced  the  secession  authorities  to  offer  to 
exchange  black  soldiers  for  white ;  but  as  the  Union  forces  were 
then  nearing  the  point  of  final  victory,  General  Grant  refused  to 
consider  the  offer.  He  said  that  he  "  did  not  deem  it  advisable  or 
just  to  the  men  who  had  to  fight  our  battles  to  reenforce  the  enemy 
with  thirty  or  forty  thousand  disciplined  troops  at  that  time." 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  36. 

2  There  is  no  accurate  report  of  the  number  of  Union  prisoners  who  died  in 
Confederate  prisons  and  prison  pens  at  the  South ;  but  it  is  estimated  that  out  of 
about  188,000  federal  soldiers  captured  by  the  Confederates,  half  were  paroled,  and 
that  36,000  of  the  remaining  half  died  in  captivity.     The  Union  armies  captured 
476,000  Confederates;  of  these  227,000  were  retained  as  prisoners;  of  these  30,000 
died.     The  rate  of  mortality  in  the  northern  prisons  was  13  in  100  ;  that  in  southern 
prisons  was  38  in  100,  or  nearly  three  times  greater.     See  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lin 
coln,  VII,  444,  and  Congressional  Report  on  Treatment  of  Prisoners,  No.  45,  4oth 
Congress.     A  comparison  of  the  two  prison  systems  shows  that  the  deaths  in  the 
southern  prisons  were  caused  in  large  degree  by  want  of  proper  food,  overcrowding, 
filth,  and  exposure  to  the  weather.     At  Andersonville  35,000  prisoners  were  huddled 
together  without  shelter  in  a  field  of  twenty-seven  acres,  the  center  of  which  was  a 
pestilential  swamp.     The  Confederate  inspector  reported  that  the  prison  pen  was 
a  "  disgrace  to  civilization."     At  the  end  of  the  war  Henry  Wirz,  the  Swiss  com 
mandant  at  Andersonville,  was  convicted  by  court-martial  of  cruel  treatment  of 
Union  prisoners,  and  was  hanged   November  10,   1865.     The  greater  part  of  the 
deaths  in  the  northern  prisons  appear  to  have  been  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  prison 
ers  were  often  not  in  good  physical  condition  when  they  entered  them,  and  next  because 
they  were  poorly  clad  and  not  able  to  bear  the  rigor  of  the  northern  winter.     All  the 
reports  agree  that  the  Confederate  prisoners  were  not  overcrowded  and  that  they  had 
good  and  sufficient  rations. 


1862]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  477 

Like  Washington  in  the  Revolution,  Grant  took  this  stand  respect 
ing  exchange  in  order  not  to  prolong  the  contest.  The  sooner  the 
war  ended,  the  sooner  all  prisoners  would  be  set  at  liberty. 

478.  Operations  in  the  West;  Bragg  invades  Kentucky;  battle 
of  Perry ville.    Late  in  the  summer  of  1862,  Bragg,  the  successor 
of  Beauregard  (§  464),  started  from  Chattanooga  on  an  expedition 
northward.     He  invaded  Kentucky,  hoping  to  obtain  supplies  for 
his  hungry  men  and  to  get  possession  of  the  state  for  the  Confed 
erates.     Buell  (§  463)  held  Tennessee.     Finding  that  Bragg  was 
hurrying  to  get  into  Louisville,  the  chief  city  of  Kentucky,  Buell 
set  off  with  all  speed  for  the  same  place,  won  the  race,  and  then 
turned  on  Bragg.     The  Confederate  general  retreated  as  far  as 
Perryville.*     When  Buell  came  up  a  sharp  battle  ensued  (Octo 
ber  8,  1862)  in  which  both  sides  lost  heavily.1     The  next  morning 
Bragg  retreated  through  the  Cumberland  Gap  on  his  way  back 
toward  Chattanooga.     He  succeeded  in  getting  off  with  a  long 
wagon   train   of  plunder.     Buell  was  censured  for  letting  Bragg 
escape    him,    and    his    command   was    turned    over    to  General 
Rosecrans. 

479.  Battles    of  luka  and   Corinth ;    Grant's  first   attack   on 
Vicksburg ;  battle  of  Murfreesboro.    Meanwhile  the  Confederates 
made  a  desperate  effort  to  drive  the  Union  forces  out  of  Corinth 
(§464);  but  in  the  battles  of  luka  (September  19,  1862)  and 
Corinth  (October  3,  4,  1862)  they  met  with  a  severe  repulse. 

In  November  Halleck  (§  463),  who  was  now  General  in  Chief, 
put  General  Grant  in  command  of  about  50,000  troops  and  told 
him  to  fight  the  enemy  where  he  pleased.  Grant  determined  to 
move  against  Vicksburg,  the  most  important  stronghold  held  by 
the  Confederates  on  the  Mississippi.  He  ordered  Sherman,  then 
at  Memphis,  to  move  down  the  river  and,  with  the  help  of  Porter's 
gunboats,  attack  the  city  from  the  rear. 

1  Official  estimate :  Union  force,  54,000,  but  perhaps  not  more  than  half  of  these 
actually  took  part  in  the  battle;  Bragg  reports  the  Confederate  force  at  only  15,000, 
but  he  appears  to  have  had  not  less  than  68,000  in  the  field.  Union  loss,  4211; 
Confederate  loss,  3396.  *  See  map  on  page  462. 


478        THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1862-1863 

Grant  himself  undertook  to  prevent  Pemberton  and  his  Con 
federate  force  in  northern  Mississippi  from  going  to  the  aid  of 
Vicksburg.  Suddenly  a  troop  of  Confederate  cavalry  swooped 
down  on  Grant's  base  of  supplies  at  Holly  Springs,  burned  them 
(December  20,  1862),  and  so  compelled  the  Union  commander 
to  fall  back.*  Sherman,  who  knew  nothing  of  Grant's  misfortune, 
advanced  (December  27,  1862),  but  encountered  natural  obsta 
cles  which  prevented  his  accomplishing  anything. 

Rosecrans  (§  478)  was  preparing  to  move  from  his  headquar 
ters  at  Nashville  against  Bragg  (§  478)  at  Chattanooga.  Bragg 
came  out  to  meet  him.  At  Murfreesboro  on  Stone  River,  Ten 
nessee,  one  of  the  most  hotly  contested  battles  of  the  war  was 
fought  (December  31,  i862-January  2,  1863).  (See  map  of  Ten 
nessee  in  §  463.)  Sheridan  and  Thomas  saved  the  day  for  the 
Union  army  and  the  Confederate  general  retreated  in  the  night  to 
Tullahoma.1  The  battle  of  Murfreesboro  compelled  the  Confed 
erate  commander  to  give  up  his  attempt  to  break  through  the 
Union  line  which  defended  the  free  states  against -invasion. 

480.  Summary  of  the  second  year  of  the  war  (April,  1862- 
April,  1863).  The  second  year  of  the  war  opened  with  Farragut's 
capture  of  New  Orleans.  This  was  the^  great  military  success  of 
the  year  in  the  southwest.  It  was  followed  by  Bragg's  raid  into 
Kentucky,  Grant's  unsuccessful  attack  on  Vicksburg,  and  Bragg's 
repulse  at  Murfreesboro. 

In  the  East,  McClellan's  indecisive  Peninsular  Campaign  was 
followed  by  Pope's  defeat  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run. 
Lee  then  advanced  into  Maryland,  but  was  driven  back  at 
Antietam.  Burnside  attacked  him  at  Fredericksburg  and  was 
forced  to  retreat.  On  New  Year's  Day,  1863,  the  President 
issued  his  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  This  gave  the  war  a 
new  character ;  henceforth  it  was  to  be  a  contest  not  to  restore 
the  nation  with  slavery  untouched,  but  to  make  it  wholly  free. 

1  Official  estimate:    Effective   Union  force,  43,400;   Confederate  force,  37,712. 
Union  loss  in  the  campaign,  13,249;  Confederate  loss,  10,266. 
*  See  map  on  page  486. 


1863]  THE   WAR   OF    SECESSION  479 

THIRD  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  (APRIL,  i863~ApRiL,  1864) 

481.  Battle  of  Chancellors ville.    In  the  spring  of  1863  "  Fight 
ing  Joe"  Hooker,  Burnside's  successor  (§471),  moved  against 
Lee,  who  was  intrenched  at  Fredericksburg  on  the  Rappahan- 
nock.     Hooker   established   his   headquarters  at   the  farmhouse 
of  Chancellorsville  on  the   edge  of  the  "Wilderness"   (§468). 
There  (May  2,  1863)  the  fighting  began.     Lee  sent  "Stonewall " 
Jackson   (§460)  round  with  a  force   20,000   strong  to  fall  on 
Hooker's  rear.     Jackson's   attack  was  a  complete   surprise  and 
threw  the  federal  army  into  confusion.    The  coming  on  of  night 
saved  it  from  defeat.    After  the  battle  Jackson,  while  reconnoiter- 
ing,  was  fired  upon  and  fell  mortally  wounded.     In  losing  him 
Lee  had  lost  his  "right  arm." 

The  battle  was  resumed  the  next  day.  At  a  critical  moment 
a  cannon  ball  struck  a  pillar  of  the  farmhouse  against  which 
Hooker  was  leaning,  and  the  concussion  knocked  him  sense 
less  to  the  ground.  When  he  fully  recovered  the  day  was  lost 
and  that  night  the  national  forces  retreated  across  the  Rappa- 
hannock.1 

482.  Lee's  advance  into  Pennsylvania;  discontent  at  the  North; 
draft   riots ;    first   day's   battle   at   Gettysburg.    The    President 
wrote   to   Hooker   (June   10,   1863),  "If  he   (Lee)  stays  where 
he  is,  fret  him  and  fret  him."     But  Lee  had  already  determined 
to  make  a  second  invasion  of  the  North  (§471).     He  is  reported 
to  have  said  that  he  believed  he  "would  swap  queens  ";  in  other 
words,  let  Hooker  take  the  Confederate  capital,  if  he  could,  while 
he  moved  on  the  checkerboard  of  war  against  Washington. 

Many  events  seemed  to  unite  in  encouraging  Lee  to  take  this 
step.  Burnside  and  Hooker  had  been  defeated  in  the  East 
(§§471,  481);  Grant  had  failed  in  his  attempt  to  take  Vicks- 
burg  (§  479) ;  the  desertions  from  the  Union  army  averaged,  at 
one  time,  two  hundred  a  day ;  Congressman  Vallandigham  of 

1  Official  estimate :  Effective  Union  force,  130,000 ;  effective  Confederate  force, 
not  less  than  60,000.  Union  loss,  12,145  j  Confederate  loss,  12,463. 


480 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


[1863 


Ohio  had  been  arrested  for  treasonable  utterances  against  the 
government  and  sent  into  the  Confederacy,  and  several  other 
well-known  men  were  denouncing  the  President  as  a  "  tyrant" 
and  the  war  as  "wicked  slaughter." 

In  order  to  fill  the  ranks  the  government  ordered  a  draft.1 
Resistance  to  this  measure  was  openly  threatened,  and  when,  a 
little  later  (July  13-16),  an  attempt  was  made  in  New  York  to 
enforce  it  trouble  began.  A  mob  set  fire  to  buildings,  attacked 
newspaper  offices,  hanged  negroes,  and  for  four  days  held  the  city 
at  their  mercy.  The  police  were  powerless  to  check  the  rioters ; 
but  a  body  of  regular  troops  speedily  dispersed  them,  though  not 
until  about  a  thousand  were  killed  and  wounded. 

The  knowledge  of  this  element  of  discontent  and  turbulence 
at  the  North  greatly  encouraged   Lee  in  his  invasion ;  but  he 
made  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  it 
represented  the  attitude  of  the  majority 
of  the  people. 

Concealed  by  the  mountain  wall  of  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  he  advanced,  crossed 
the  Potomac,  and  entered  Pennsylvania. 
Hooker  followed,  but  at  this  juncture  he 
was  relieved  of  his  command  (June  28, 
1863)  and  General  Meade  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  "  Army  of  the  Potomac." 
On  the  same  day  Lee  began  his  advance 
upon  Harrisburg,  the  capital  of  Pennsyl 
vania  ;  but  hearing  that  the  Union  army  was  in  his  rear,  and  fear 
ing  that  his  communication  with  Richmond  might  be  cut,  he 
ordered  his  entire  army  to  move  on  Gettysburg,  where  he  could 
threaten  either  Harrisburg  or  Baltimore. 

Gettysburg  lies  on  a  slope  at  the  foot  of  two  ridges.  The 
nearer  one,  shaped  like  a  fishhook,  is  known  as  Cemetery  Ridge. 
It  is  about  five  miles  in  length  and  is  marked  by  three  eleva 
tions, —  Gulp's  Hill,  at  the  barb  of  the  hook,  and  Little  Round 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  31 ;  Rhodes'  United  States,  IV,  321-328. 


MAP  OF  THE 

Battle  of 
GETTYSBURG 

Showing  the  Positions  held 
July  3d,  tSG3. 
Union  Lines 
Confederate  Lines 


, 

The  High-Water  Mark  Monument 

Stands  on  the  ground  held 

by  Gibbon's  men 


48l 


482          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1863 

Top,  followed  by  Round  Top  at  the  extremity  of  the  shank. 
Opposite,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  away,  rises  Seminary  Ridge. 
Neither  army  originally  thought  of  fighting  here,  but  at  this  point 
the  first  and  last  great  battle  on  free  soil  was  to  be  fought. 

On  the  morning  of  July  i,  1863,  the  Confederate  force  struck 
the  federal  advance  at  Gettysburg.  The  brave  Reynolds  was 
killed  while  forming  the  Union  line  of  battle  and  his  men 
were  driven  back  through  the  town  to  Cemetery  Ridge.  There 
they  took  up  a  very  strong  position  where  the  crest  of  the  Ridge 
would  hide  their  movements  from  the  observation  of  the  enemy. 
Lee's  whole  army  as  it  arrived  took  possession  of  the  opposite 
height  of  Seminary  Ridge. 

483.  The  second  day's  battle  at  Gettysburg.    Hancock  reached 
the  field  that  evening,  and  on  hearing  his  report,  Meade  ordered 
the  entire  Union  force  to  advance  to  Gettysburg.     The  Union 
commander  resolved  to  hold  Cemetery  Ridge  and  fight  a  defen 
sive  battle.     This  gave  him  a  decided  advantage,  since  he  not 
only  had  the  greater  force,  but  Lee's  men  in  order  to  attack  him 
must  move  across  the  broad,  open  valley,  where  they  would  be 
the  target  of  the  Union  fire.     On  the  other  hand,  the  Confed 
erates  held  ground  which  enabled  them  to  employ  their  batteries 
with  much  greater  effect  than  was  possible  for  the  Union  men. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  battle  the  Confederates,  at  heavy  loss 
to  themselves,  drove  back  General  Sickles  from  a  position  he  had 
taken  at  the  Peach  Orchard  opposite,  just  in  front  of  Cemetery 
Ridge.  They  then  made  a  determined  movement  to  get  posses 
sion  of  Little  Round  Top,  which  the  Union  forces  had  neglected 
to  occupy.  By  desperate  fighting  Meade's  men  secured  and  held 
the  coveted  height,  —  the  true  key  of  the  battlefield.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Confederates  pierced  Meade's  center  and  a  detachment 
got  a  temporary  foothold  on  a  part  of  Gulp's  Hill,  but  they  were 
driven  from  it  early  the  next  morning. 

484.  The  final  battle  at  Gettysburg ;  Pickett's  charge  (July  3, 
1863).    On  the  third  and  last  day  (July  3,  1863)  Lee,  against 
Longstreet's  advice,  decided  to  make  a  grand  assault  on  the  Union 


18G3]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  483 

center,  held  by  Hancock.  At  one  o'clock  the  Confederate  bat 
teries  opened  a  terrific  artillery  fire,  which  was  kept  up  for  nearly 
two  hours.  The  guns  of  the  national  forces  hurled  back  defiance, 
and  the  whole  valley  between  the  two  ridges  was  alive  with  shot 
and  shell.  While  this  furious  cannonade  was  going  on  Lee  sent 
Stuart's  cavalry  round  to  attack  the  Union  rear;  but  Meade's 
cavalry  met  and  defeated  them  in  a  "  saber  fight." 

After  a  time  the  Union  commander  ordered  the  artillery  to  cease 
firing,  in  order  that  their  guns  might  cool.  Lee  believed  he  had 
silenced  the  national  batteries,  and  at  three  o'clock  gave  the  order 
for  General  Pickett  to  charge.  Pickett  started  at  the  head  of  a 
magnificent  triple  line  of  troops  a  mile  long,  numbering  15,000. 
Hancock's  men,  intrenched  behind  a  stone  wall,  awaited  the  attack. 
Both  sides  realized  that  this  was  to  be  the  death  grapple.  The 
Confederate  force,  the  flower  of  Virginia,  had  to  cross  a  level  space 
over  a  mile  in  width.  As  they  advanced  the  Union  batteries 
opened  upon  them  and  tore  great  gaps  in  their  ranks ;  but  the 
main  body  of  the  assailing  column  pressed  steadily  forward  with 
out  firing  a  shot  or  uttering  a  sound.  As  they  dashed  up  to  the 
Union  line,  a  terrific  front  and  flank  fire  swept  great  numbers  of 
the  "  men  in  gray  "  out  of  existence  and  drove  others  to  turn  and 
fly  or  throw  down  their  arms. 

General  Armistead  led  the  remnant  of  Pickett's  column.  Hold 
ing  up  his  cap  on  the  point  of  his  sword  as  a  guide  to  his  men, 
he  leaped  over  the  stone  wall  crying,  "  Boys,  give  them  the  cold 
steel !  "  The  next  instant  he  fell  riddled  with  bullets.  A  brief 
hand-to-hand  fight  ensued,  then  all  was  over.1  Here,  at  a  point 
since  marked  by  an  appropriate  monument,  the  great  wave  of 
attack  reached  its  high-water  mark ;  here  its  terrible  force  was 
spent  and  the  tide  turned,  never  to  rise  again.2  One  look  at  the 

1  See  Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  IV,  No.  120. 

2  Official  estimate  :  Effective  Union  force  (June  30),  101,679;  Confederate  force, 
77,518.     The  actual  Union  force  in  the  field  was  probably  about  93,500  and  the  Con 
federate  at  least  70,000.    Union  loss,  23,003 ;  Confederate  loss,  20,451.    No  two  author 
ities  agree  as  to  the  number  of  men  in  Pickett's  column.     Longstreet  (Manassas  to 
Appomattox,  page  314)  says  15,000. 


484          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1863 

field  of  battle  showed  that  the  Union  force  had  won ;  it  showed, 
too,  the  -truth  of  Wellington's  words,  "  A  great  victory  is  the  sad 
dest  thing  in  the  world,  except  a  great  defeat."  Forty  years  after 
ward  General  Longstreet  magnanimously  declared  that  he  was 
thankful  that  the  Confederates  suffered  that  defeat  (§  513). 

Meade's  losses  were  so  heavy  that  he  judged  it  best  not  to  pur 
sue  the  retreating  Confederates  and  bring  on  another  battle.  Lee 
crossed  the  Potomac  unmolested  and  once  more  took  up  his  line 
of  defense  before  Richmond.  A  few  months  later,  a  part  of  the 
field  at  Gettysburg  was  dedicated  as  a  national  military  cemetery, 
and  the  President,  standing  on  the  battle-consecrated  height, 
delivered  that  address  which  will  live  as  long  as  the  memory  of 
the  conflict  that  inspired  it. 

485.  The  capture  of  Vicksburg ;  how  Grant  accomplished  it. 
From  a  military  point  of  view  the  Fourth  of  July,  1863,  was  the 
most  memorable  day  in  our  national  history  since  the  close  of 
the  Revolution.  On  that  day  the  telegraph  flashed  the  news  of  the 
victory  of  Gettysburg  throughout  the  loyal  North ;  on  that  day, 
too,  Grant  entered  the  Confederate  stronghold  of  Vicksburg. 

Vicksburg  was  the  "  Gibraltar  of  the  West."  Standing  on  a  clay 
bluff  rising  perpendicularly  two  hundred  feet  above  the  Mississippi, 
it  defied  attack  in  front.  On  the  north  it  was  protected,  as  Sher 
man  had  found  to  his  cost  (§  479),  by  a  network  of  almost  impas 
sable  bayous  and  swamps.  On  the  south  and  rear  it  could  only  be 
approached  by  climbing  steep  ridges  cut  by  deep  ravines. 

Grant  arrived  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  just  above 
Vicksburg  in  January,  1863.  He  made  up  his  mind  that  the  true 
way  to  attack  the  place  would  be  to  go  back  to  Memphis,  a  dis 
tance  of  about  two  hundred  miles,  make  that  city  his  base  of  sup 
plies,  and  then  move  his  army  down  along  the  line  of  railway  to 
the  rear  of  Vicksburg.  But  political  reasons,  he  says,  forbade  his 
adopting  this  course. 

It  was  a  period  of  gloom  and  doubt  at  the  North.  McClellan's 
movement  on  Richmond  had  failed,  Pope  had  been  defeated  at  Bull 
Run,  and  Lee  had  got  away  from  Antietam  and  was  once  more 


FACSIMILE  OF   MR.    LINCOLN'S  AUTOGRAPHIC    COPY  OF    THE   GETTYSBURG   ADDRESS,   MADE 
BY   HIM    FOR   THE  SOLDIERS*    AND   SAILORS*    FAIR   AT   BALTIMORE,    IN    1864 

From  Nicolay  and  Hay's  "Lincoln,"  by  permission  of  the  Authors. 


fr*# 


* 

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a&T>'fC&+jz> 


<n;ia4iL 


1863]  THE   WAR   OF    SECESSION  485 

defiant.  The  election  of  1862  gave  no  encouragement  to  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  contest  against  secession.  "  Many 
strong  Union  men,"  says  Grant,  "believed  that  the  war  must 
prove  a  failure."1  Voluntary  enlistments  had  nearly  ceased  and 
the  draft  was  resisted.  Under  these  circumstances  he  feared  that 
the  North  would  regard  any  backward  movement  as  a  retreat ;  for 
this  reason  he  finally  determined  to  move  down  the  western  bank 
of  the  river,  cross  over,  and  then  attack  Vicksburg  from  the  rear. 

Grant  had  to  solve  the  problem  (i)  of  getting  his  army  of  over 
40,000  men  past  the  Vicksburg  batteries,  and  (2)  of  crossing  the 
Mississippi  and  securing  a  base  of  operations  south  of  the  city. 
The  land  on  which  the  long  line  of  Union  forces  was  encamped 
was  low  and  swampy,  and  incessant  rains  made  it  difficult  for  the 
troops  to  find  ground  on  which  to  pitch  their  tents. 

The  winter  was  spent  in  endeavoring  to  turn  the  Mississippi 
from  its  course  by  digging  a  canal  across  the  peninsula  opposite 
Vicksburg  so  that  the  army  might  be  moved  south  by  water.  This 
work,  with  other  attempts  of  a  similar  character,  failed ;  but,  as 
Grant  says,  it  served  the  important  end  of  diverting  the  attention 
of  the  enemy,  keeping  a  part  of  the  troops  busy,  and  pacifying 
the  impatience  of  the  press. 

486.  Grant  crosses  the  river;  campaign  against  Johnston  and 
Pemberton.  When  spring  came  and  the  water  had  receded  so 
that  marching  became  practicable  Grant  gave  orders  to  move. 
Porter,  having  protected  his  gunboats  with  bales  of  cotton  and 
hay,  ran  past  the  Vicksburg  batteries  in  the  night  (April  16, 
1863).  Grant's  army  then  marched  down  the  west  bank  a  dis 
tance  of  about  seventy  miles,  and  on  the  last  of  April  (1863) 
Porter's  fleet  began  to  ferry  the  men  across  the  river.  Pember 
ton,  the  Confederate  general,  had  a  force  about  40,000  strong 
in  and  around  Vicksburg.  He  attempted  to  prevent  the  Union 
army  from  landing,  but  without  success. 

General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  (§  468)  hurried  up  to  Jackson,  the 
capital  of  Mississippi,  with  reinforcements  from  Tennessee  for 

1  See  Grant's  Memoirs,  I,  443,  444,  446,  449. 


486          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1863 


Pemberton.  Grant  at  once  moved  eastward  on  Jackson  and 
drove  Johnston  out  of  the  place  (May  14,  1863).  He  then 
destroyed  the  railways  centering  there  and  the  manufactories  of 
military  goods,  and  so  cut  off  Pemberton' s  supplies,  all  of  which 
had  come  through  Jackson. 

Grant  next  turned  on  Pemberton,  who  had  come  out  from  Vicks 
burg  to  join  Johnston.    He  whipped  the  Confederate  commander 

in  a  battle  at  Cham 
pion  Hills  (May  16, 
1863),  and  the  next 
day  at  the  bridge  over 
the  Big  Black  River 
he  defeated  him 
again.  Pemberton 
then  fled  back  to 
Vicksburg  and  shut 
himself  up  in  that 
stronghold  with  his 
army,  reduced  to 
about  28,000  men. 
Grant  followed  and 
made  two  attempts 
to  take  the  city  by 
assault.  Failing  to 
force  an  entrance, 
he  fortified  his  rear 
against  Johnston  and 
towards  the  last  of  May  (1863)  sat  down  to  begin  the  famous 
siege  of  Vicksburg. 

487.  Siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg;  fall  of  Port  Hudson. 
The  "  boys  in  blue  "  set  to  work  with  a  will.  They  dug  trenches 
by  the  mile  and  set  up  batteries  by  the  score.  For  nearly 
seven  weeks  Porter's  fleet  on  one  side  and  the  Union  army  on 
the  other  kept  up  an  incessant  fire  on  the  doomed  city.  Mean 
while  the  opposing  forces  were  digging  mines  and  countermines 


SCALE    OF    MILES 
I_J 


— • Track  of  Gen.  Grant 

Track  of  Admiral  Porter 


Si.  Union  Victories 


SlEGfi    OF    VlCKSBURG 


487 


488          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY          [is© 

to  blow  each  other  up.  The  pitiless  storm  of  shells  drove  many 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Vicksburg  from  their  homes.  They  bur 
rowed  in  the  sides  of  the  hills  for  safety  until  the  place  was 
so  honeycombed  with  caves  that  the  streets  looked  like  avenues 
of  tombs  in  a  cemetery.  Late  in  June  (1863)  the  Union  men 
blew  up  a  fort  they  had  mined,  and,  rushing  into  the  breach, 
tried  again  to  take  Vicksburg  by  assault,  but  they  met  with  a 
decided  repulse. 

The  provisions  in  the  city  were  getting  dangerously  low.  The 
chief  engineer  of  the  Vicksburg  defenses  says  that  mule  meat 
and  rats  were  regarded  as  "  delicacies."  Meanwhile  the  sick  and 
wounded  were  increasing  so  fast  that  the  number  at  length  reached 
6000.  Many  of  Pemberton's  men  began  to  lose  heart,  and  said 
to  him  in  a  written  appeal,  "  If  you  can't  feed  us,  you  had  better 
surrender  us." 

Finally,  the  Confederate  commander  decided  to  hang  out  the 
white  flag.  He  knew  that  Grant  was  making  preparations  for  a 
grand  assault ;  he  knew,  too,  that  even  if  his  worn-out  men  could 
repulse  the  attack,  they  could  not  repulse  starvation.  Negotia 
tions  were  completed  at  the  very  time  that  Meade's  forces  were 
driving  back  Lee  at  Gettysburg  (§  484).  The  victorious  Union 
army  entered  the  town  on  the  Fourth  of  July  (1863),  and  were 
soon  sharing  their  provisions  with  those  whom  they  had  so  recently 
been  engaged  in  "  starving  out."  1 

Nearly  32,000  prisoners  (noncombatants  included)  were  taken, 
besides  many  cannon  and  great  quantities  of  small  arms.2  General 
Badeau  says  it  was  "  the  largest  capture  of  men  and  material  ever 
made  in  war,"  Napoleon's  campaigns  not  excepted. 

Port  Hudson  (§  467)  below  Vicksburg  capitulated  to  General 
Banks  a  few  days  later  (July  9,  1863).  The  South  no  longer  held 
a  fort  or  a  battery  on  the  Mississippi.'  The  Confederacy  was  fairly 

!See  Harfs  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  IV,  No.  119. 

2 Official  estimate:  Union  force  at  the  beginning  of  the  Vicksburg  campaign, 
43,000;  at  its  close,  75,000.  Confederate  force  under  Pemberton,  over  40,000; 
reduced  before  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  to  28,000.  Union  1055,9362;  Confederate 
loss,  probably  over  10,000. 


18G3]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  489 

and  finally  cut  in  two,  and  the  "  Father  of  Waters,"  as  Lincoln 
declared,  once  more  rolled  "  unvexed  to  the  sea." 

488.  Battle  of  Chickamauga.    While  Grant  was  besieging  Vicks- 
burg  (§  487),  Rosecrans  (§  47 9),  in  his  brilliant  Tullahoma  campaign 
here  (June  24-July  7,  1863),  drove  Bragg  across  the  Tennessee  into 
Chattanooga,  and  then,  by  threatening  his  communications,  drove 
him  out  across  the  Georgia  line.    Bragg,  having  received  reenforce- 
ments,  turned  on  his  pursuer  at  Chickamauga.     Two  severe  bat 
tles  were  fought  (September  19,  20,  1863),  in  which  Rosecrans 
was  badly  beaten.     Thomas  saved  the  Union  army  from  destruc 
tion.     He  held  his  ground,  repulsed  a  force  much  larger  than  his 
own,  and  then  fell  back  in  good  order  to  Chattanooga.    In  admi 
ration  of  the  stubborn  courage  of  their  commander,  the  Union 
troops  named  Thomas  the  "  Rock  of  Chickamauga."     He  soon 
superseded  Rosecrans  and  took  command  of   the  army  he  had 
saved.1 

489.  Bragg  besieges  Chattanooga  ;  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain 
and  Missionary  Ridge.    Bragg  pursued  the  Union  forces  to  Chat 
tanooga    and    intrenched    himself   on    the    heights    of    Lookout 
Mountain    and    Missionary    Ridge    above    the   town.     He    then 
destroyed  the  railway  connecting  Chattanooga  with   Nashville; 
this  cut  off  Thomas  from  his  base  of  supplies.     Grant  saw  that 
the  situation  was  fast  getting  desperate  and  sent  word  to  Thomas 
to    hold  on   if    possible   until   he  could  bring    him   help.     The 
"  Rock  of  Chickamauga  "  replied,  "  I  will  hold  on  till  we  starve." 

Meanwhile  Bragg,  feeling  confident  that  he  had  the  Union 
army  in  a  trap,  sent  off  part  of  his  forces  under  Longstreet  to 
capture  Burnside  in  Knoxville.  Longstreet  failed  to  compel 
Burnside  to  surrender  and  withdrew  to  strengthen  Lee  at 
Richmond. 

Grant,  with  Sherman,  Sheridan,  and  Hooker,  hastened  to  the 
assistance  of  Thomas  and  ordered  him  to  open  the  Chattanooga 
campaign  (November  23,  1863).  The  next  day  Hooker  swept 

1  Official  estimate:  Union  force,  56,965;  Confederate  force,  71,551.  Union  loss, 
16,179;  Confederate  loss,  17,804. 


490        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1863-1864 

Bragg's  force  from  Lookout  Mountain  in  the  famous  "Battle  above 
the  Clouds"  (November  24,  1863)  and  planted  the  "stars  and 
stripes  "  on  the  crest  of  the  height. 

The  day  following  (November  25,  1863)  Sherman,  supported 
by  Thomas  and  Sheridan,  led  the  attack  on  Missionary  Ridge. 
When  the  Union  men  had  stormed  the  first  line  of  Confederate 
rifle  pits  the  order  to  halt  was  given.  But  instead  of  stopping, 
the  men  with  ringing  cheers  started  up  the  steep  sides  of  the 
Ridge  and,  scrambling  over  bowlders  and  fallen  trees,  charged 
Bragg's  flying  forces  with  irresistible  fury.1  Bragg  fell  back  across 
the  Georgia  line  to  Dalton  to  protect  Atlanta ;  here  he  was  super 
seded  by  Joseph  E.  Johnston  (§  486). 

490.  Sherman's  raid  on  Meridian  ;  Grant  made  General  in  Chief. 
Early  in  February  (1864)  Grant  dispatched  Sherman  westward 
to  destroy  Meridian,  Mississippi.  It  was  a  place  of  great  impor 
tance  to  the  Confederates  on  account  of  the  railways  centering 
there.  Sherman  set  10,000  men  at  the  work  of  destruction. 
They  labored  with  all  their  might  for  nearly  a  week.  Nothing 
was  left  of  the  town  that  axes  or  sledge  hammers  could  smash 
or  that  fire  could  burn.  When  the  work  of  devastation  was  com 
pleted  Sherman  could  truthfully  report,  "  Meridian  no  longer 
exists."  This  liberated  a  large  Union  force,  hitherto  on  guard 
in  Mississippi,  and  so  strengthened  the  army  which  could  be 
used  in  advancing  against  Johnston. 

The  President  had  observed,  as  he  said,  that  wherever  Grant 
was  "  things  moved,"  and  he  was  anxious  to  give  him  a  chance 
against  Richmond.  Congress  revived  the  grade  of  Lieutenant 
General,  and  Lincoln  now  (March  12,  1864)  conferred  the  honor 
upon  the  man  who  had  taken  Vicksburg  and  beaten  Bragg.  He 
was  the  first  officer  of  the  army  who  had  regularly  received  the 
title  since  Washington.2  Thus  the  "Unconditional  Surrender" 
Grant  of  Fort  Donelson  (§  463)  came  into  command  of  all  the 

1  Official  estimate:  Union  force  (effective  strength),  60,000;  Confederate  force, 
probably  about  45,000.    Union  loss,  5815  ;  Confederate  loss,  6687. 

2  Scott  held  it  only  by  brevet. 


1863-1864]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  491 

Union  forces,  numbering  nearly  700,000  men  in  active  service. 
Leaving  Sherman  at  the  head  of  the  western  army,  Grant  went 
east  to  prepare  for  the  great  final  campaign  against  the  Con 
federate  capital.  Sherman  on  his  part  made  ready  to  move 
against  Joseph  E.  Johnston  (§  489)  at  Atlanta  or  wherever  he 
should  find  him. 

491.  Summary  of  the  third  year  of  the  war  (April,  1863- 
April,  1864).  The  third  year  of  the  war  opened  with  Lee's 
defeat  of  Hooker  at  Chancellorsville,  but  also  with  the  Confed 
erate  loss  of  "Stonewall"  Jackson.  On  July  3  Lee  was  driven 
back  at  Gettysburg  and  the  next  day  Grant  entered  Vicksburg ; 
the  surrender  of  Port  Hudson  followed,  opening  the  Mississippi 
and  cutting  the  Confederacy  in  two. 

In  the  autumn  Rosecrans  drove  Bragg  out  of  Tennessee,  but 
was  defeated  at  Chickamauga  and  driven  to  take  refuge  in  Chat 
tanooga.  Grant's  army  came  to  the  relief  of  the  Union  forces 
shut  up  in  Chattanooga,  and  in  the  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain 
and  Missionary  Ridge  compelled  Bragg  to  retreat  into  Georgia. 
Sherman  annihilated  Meridian,  and  Grant  was  soon  afterwards 
put  in  command  of  all  the  Union  armies  and  called  east  to  move 
against  Richmond. 


FOURTH  AND  FINAL  YEAR   OF  THE  WAR  (APRIL,  1864- 
APRIL,  1865) 

492.  Grant's  "  hammering  campaign";  the  twofold  advance; 
the  battle  of  the  "Wilderness."  Up  to  the  spring  of  1864  the 
Union  armies  of  the  East  and  West  had  acted,  said  Grant,  "  like  a 
balky  team  "  —  never  pulling  together.  The  new  General  in  Chief 
resolved  that  in  future  both  should  start  at  the  word  "  Go  ! "  He 
was  determined  to  "hammer"  the  Confederates  day  and  night 
Until  he  should  literally  pound  them  to  pieces.  His  plan  was  to 
keep  Lee  so  busy  that  he  could  not  send  help  to  Johnston,  while 
Sherman  kept  Johnston  so  busy  that  he  could  not  help  Lee. 


492 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


[1864 


On  May  4,  1864,  Grant  crossed  the  Rapidan  just  above  Fred- 
ericksburg  and  entered  the  tangled  forest  of  the  "  Wilder  ness,"  - 
a  region  filled  with  a  gloom  like  that  of  the  "  shadow  of  death." 
Seated   on  a  log   in   that  desolate   place,  Grant  telegraphed  to 
Sherman  to  advance  at  once  against  Johnston  (§  490). 

Meanwhile  Grant  had  sent  General  Butler  with  a  force  nearly 
40,000  strong  up  the  James  River  to  threaten  Richmond  from 

the  south,  while 
another  Union 
army  of  20,000 
men  commanded 
by  General  Hunter 
was  sent  up  the 
Shenandoah  Val 
ley  to  threaten  the 
Confederate  cap 
ital  from  the  west. 
The  enemy  "  bot 
tled  up"  Butler  on 
a  peninsula  on  the 
James  River  and 
drove  the  Union 
forces  out  of  the 
Shenandoah  Val 
ley,  so  that  in  the 
end  Grant  had  to 
rely  entirely  on 
his  own  army. 

Grant  had  an  effective  force  of  118,000  men,  or  nearly  twice 
as  many  as  Lee's  entire  army,  counting  the  reserve  held  at  Rich 
mond  ;  but  Lee  had  the  immense  advantage  of  knowing  every 
foot  of  the  difficult  ground,  and  as  fast  as  he  was  driven  from 
one  line  of  intrenchments  he  had  another  ready  to  fall  back  upon. 
The  battle  of  the  "Wilderness  "  (May  6-7, 1864)  was  a  desperate 
two  days'  encounter  in  which  neither  side  could  show  any  positive 


Norfolk  * 

4 


1864]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  493 

gain.    The  combatants  fought  in  a  labyrinth  of  woods  where  they 
scarcely  saw  each  other.    The  losses  on  both  sides  were  frightful. 

493.  Spottsylvania ;  Cold  Harbor ;  change  of  base  ;  Petersburg. 
Two  days  later,  Grant,  in  making  the  attempt  to  get  between  Lee 
and  Richmond,  had  to  fight  the  battle   of  Spottsylvania  Court 
House  (May  9,  10,  1864).     Again  the  Union  army  suffered  ter 
ribly;    Grant,  however,  was  in   no  wise  discouraged,  and   tele 
graphed  to  Washington,  "  I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line 
if  it  takes  all  summer."     But  even  the  conqueror  of  Vicksburg 
found  that  he  could  not  continue  to  advance  on  that  line  farther 
than    the    North  Anna   River.     He    then    swung  round   to   the 
Pamunkey  and  advanced  to  Cold  Harbor.     There,  within  sight 
of  the  outer  circle  of  the  fortifications  of  Richmond,  the  "  boys 
in  blue"  charged  on  Lee's  intrenchments  and   lost  over  12,000 
men  in  their  desperate  attack.    Grant  himself  said  that  he  always 
regretted  ordering  that  assault. 

He  now  found  the  swamps  of  the  Chickahominy  (§  468)  such 
a  serious  obstacle  to  his  further  advance  that  he  crossed  over  to 
the  south  side  of  the  James  River.  Lee  fell  back  behind  the 
line  of  works  which  extended  around  Richmond.  Petersburg, 
on  a  tributary  of  the  James,  formed  part  of  that  circle  of  defense. 
Grant  tried  in  vain  to  storm  the  city  ;  failing  to  do  this,  he  resolved 
to  carry  it  by  siege  as  he  had  Vicksburg,  but  it  proved  to  be  a 
ten  months'  job. 

During  the  six  weeks  of  fighting  (May  5 -June  15,  1864)  in 
which  the  Union  army  had  been  engaged  since  they  left  the 
Rapidan,  Grant  had  lost  nearly  55,000  men,  or  almost  as  many 
as  Lee's  entire  force  in  the  field.  Lee's  losses  were  only  par 
tially  reported,  but  he  must  have  suffered  terribly.  He  knew 
that  the  Confederacy  was  fast  exhausting  its  strength  and  that  it 
could  not  replace  the  men  that  had  fallen.  Lee  had  succeeded 
in  shaking  off  every  other  general  that  had  attacked  him,  but 
now  he  felt  a  grip  that  he  could  not  shake  off. 

494.  Early's  raid ;    the  burning   of  Chambersburg ;    Sheridan 
retaliates.    In  the  vain  hope  of  compelling  Grant  to  relax  his  hold 


494          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [i«a 

on  Petersburg,  Lee  in  June  dispatched  Early  with  about  20,000 
men  on  a  raid  northward.  He  moved  down  the  Shenandoah  Val 
ley,  that  convenient  Confederate  avenue  of  attack,  and  threatened 
the  national  capital  itself.  The  alarm  at  Washington  was  so  great 
that  the  President  appealed  to  Grant  to  come  to  the  rescue,  and 
the  convalescents  from  the  hospitals  and  the  clerks  in  the  govern 
ment  departments  were  mustered  into  service.  Had  Early  moved 
promptly  (July  n,  1864),  "he  might  have  entered  the  capital"; 
but  he  delayed  action  just  long  enough  to  give  Grant  time  to 
throw  reinforcements  into  that  fort-girdled  city. 

The  Confederate  general  then  fell  back,  carrying  off  many  thou 
sand  horses  and  cattle,  together  with  other  plunder.  Finding  that 
he  was  not  pursued,  he  sent  a  detachment  of  cavalry  into  Pennsyl 
vania  to  levy  a  contribution  on  Chambersburg.  The  citizens  were 
called  on  to  furnish  $100,000  in  gold  or  $500,000  in  "green 
backs."  They  could  not  or  would  not  comply  with  the  demand, 
and  the  raiders  laid  the  town  in  ashes,  leaving  3000  noncom- 
batants  without  food  or  shelter. 

Grant  resolved  to  retaliate  by  cleaning  out  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  so  that  the  Confederates  could  no  longer  draw  provisions 
from  it  to  feed  their  armies.  He  selected  Sheridan,  who  had 
distinguished  himself  in  his  raids  on  the  enemy's  supplies,  to  do 
the  work  of  destruction.  Grant  says  that  the  only  order  this 
energetic  soldier  required  was  the  simple  command,  "  Go  in  !  " 
Sheridan,  with  an  effective  force  of  about  26,000  men,  "  went 
in."  He  started  from  the  lower  part  of  the  Valley  at  Harpers 
Ferry  (September  19,  1864)  and  moved  slowly  up  to  the  top, 
driving  the  last  armed  Confederate  out  of  the  region. 

Then  (October  6,  1864)  he  turned  and  moved  down  the  Valley, 
devastating  it  as  he  advanced.  He  slaughtered  or  drove  off 
thousands  of  cattle  and  sheep,  burned  more  than  seventy  grist 
mills,  and  destroyed  over  two  thousand  barns  filled  with  hay  and 
grain.  When  he  had  finished  he  had  stripped  the  Valley  so  bare 
of  food  supplies  that  it  was  said  a  crow  could  not  fly  through  it 
unless  he  carried  his  provisions  with  him. 


1864]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  495 

495.  "Sheridan's  ride";  the  Petersburg  mine.   Lee  now  ordered 
Early  to  make  an  attempt  to  recover  the  desolated  Valley  which, 
though  destitute  of  supplies,  still  remained  a  most  convenient 
thoroughfare  for  raids  on  the   North.     Early  moved  cautiously 
and  under  cover  of  darkness  attacked  and  nearly  defeated  the 
Union  forces  at  Cedar  Creek  (October  19,  1864). 

Sheridan  had  just  returned  to  Winchester  from  Washington. 
Hearing  heavy  firing  in  the  direction  of  Cedar  Creek,  and  sus 
pecting  something  wrong,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  toward 
that  point.  The  retreating  Union  men  when  they  met  their 
commander  turned  of  their  own  accord  and  started  for  the  front. 
Sheridan's  arrival  on  the  field  was  greeted  with  cheer  after  cheer. 
Swinging  his  hat,  he  dashed  along  the  line  of  battle  shouting, 
"  Never  mind,  boys,  we  '11  whip  them  yet."  The  "  boys  "  responded 
by  throwing  up  their  caps  and  hurrahing  with  the  wildest  joy. 
Before  night  set  in  they  drove  Early  out  of  the  Valley.  The 
Confederates  never  entered  it  in  force  again  and  never  attempted 
to  make  another  raid  through  it. 

Grant  had  been  burrowing  beneath  the  defenses  of  Petersburg 
(§  493)  for  more  than  a  month,  and  on  the  last  of  July  (1864) 
he  exploded  a  gigantic  mine  under  one  of  the  Confederate  forts. 
A  detachment  of  Union  troops  rushed  into  the  "crater  "  to  force 
their  way  into  the  city.  The  commander  did  not  act  promptly 
and  the  attacking  party  were  caught  in  a  death  trap.  The 
enemy's  guns  opened  upon  the  struggling  mass  of  men  in  the 
"  crater,"  and  about  4000  brave  fellows  were  killed  or  taken 
prisoners.  In  his  report  Grant  called  the  Petersburg  mine  a 
"  stupendous  failure." 

496.  Sherman  advances  on  Atlanta.    On  May  4,  1864,  the  day 
on  which  Grant  advanced  into  the  "  Wilderness  "  (§  492),  Sher 
man,  in  obedience  to  orders,  moved  against  Joseph  E.  Johnston 
(§  490).     Sherman  had  an  army  nearly  100,000  strong.     Johnston 
had  only  about  half  as  many  men,  but  he  was  strongly  intrenched 
among  the  hills  at  Dalton,  Georgia,  and  he  knew  the  country. 
Again,  Sherman  had  to  draw  his  supplies  over  a  single-track  line 


496          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1864 

of  railway,  open  to  guerrilla  raids,  while  Johnston  was  exposed  to 
no  such  danger. 

By  a  skillful  flank  movement  Sherman  compelled  Johnston  to 
abandon  Dal  ton  (May  13,  1864)  and  fall  back  to  Resaca.  From 
this  point  Sherman,  in  a  series  of  battles,  forced  his  antagonist 
back  to  Allatoona,  then  to  Dallas,  and  then  to  Kenesaw  Mountain. 
Sherman  said  that  from  this  time  on  for  an  entire  month  his  guns 
never  stopped  firing  for  a  single  minute.  He  pushed  Johnston  back 
step  by  step  until  he  drove  him  across  the  Chattahoochee  River 
(July  9,  1864)  and  the  Union  army  caught  sight  of  the  spires  of 
Atlanta,  —  the  most  important  center  in  the  Confederacy  for  the 
manufacture  of  military  supplies  and  for  their  distribution  by  rail. 

497.  Sherman  takes  Atlanta.  Jefferson  Davis  thought  Johnston 
was  too  slow.  He  now  relieved  him  of  his  command  and  put  the 
impetuous  Hood  at  the  head  of  the  Confederate  forces  in  Georgia. 
Hood  was  a  "fighter."  He  made  a  furious  attack  (July  20-24, 
1864)  on  the  Union  army,  but  the  "  battle  of  Atlanta  "  went 
against  him  and  Hood  had  to  retreat  and  seek  shelter  within  the 
intrenchments  of  the  city. 

Sherman,  fighting  his  way,  worked  round  to  the  right  in  order 
to  cut  the  railway  on  which  Hood  depended  for  his  supplies. 
The  Confederate  general,  seeing  that  he  could  not  continue  to 
hold  the  city,  blew  up  his  works  and  decamped  in  the  night  (Sep 
tember  1,1864).  The  next  morning  the  Union  forces  entered 
Atlanta  in  triumph.1 

Jefferson  Davis  then  ordered  Hood  to  move  northward  and 
threaten  Nashville.  The  Union  commander  heard  with  joy  that 
Hood  was  advancing  in  that  direction  and  sent  Thomas  to  look 
after  him.  It  is  reported  that  Sherman  said,  "  If  Hood  will 
go  to  Tennessee,  I  will  give  him  rations  to  go  with";  could  he 
have  foreseen  the  result  of  the  conflict  with  Thomas,  he  would 
have  promised  his  adversary  double  rations.  But  Jefferson  Davis 

1  Official  estimate:  Union  force,  nearly  100,000;  Confederate  force  not  reported, 
but  estimated  at  60,000.  Union  loss  in  the  advance  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta, 
about  40,000  ;  Confederate  loss,  about  the  same. 


1864]  THE   WAR   OF    SECESSION  497 

declared  that  Sherman  was  lost.  Hood,  he  said,  was  now  in  his 
rear,  while  Johnston  was  in  front ;  he  predicted  that  these  two 
Confederate  millstones  would  grind  the  Union  army  to  powder. 

498.  Sherman  removes  the  citizens  of  Atlanta.    Sherman  had 
decided  to  make  Atlanta  "  a  pure  military  garrison  or  depot  with 
no  civil  population  to  influence  military  measures."    The  reasons 
he  gave  for  coming  to  that  decision  were  :   (i)  that  if  he  permitted 
the  inhabitants  to  remain,  he  would  have  to  feed  them,  and  he 
felt  that  he  had  all  he  could  do  to  feed  his  army ;  and  (2)  he 
would  have  to  maintain  a  strong  force  "  to  guard  and  protect  the 
interests  of  a  hostile  population." 

He  therefore  ordered  (September  12,  1864)  the  inhabitants  to 
leave  the  place,  offering  to  provide  free  transportation  for  all, 
either  northward  or  southward.  Hood  and  the  authorities  of 
Atlanta  protested  against  the  "  heartless  cruelty  "  of  this  order. 
Sherman  replied  :  "  War  is  cruelty  and  you  cannot  refine  it ;  and 
those  who  brought  war  into  our  country  deserve  all  the  curses  and 
maledictions  a  people  can  pour  out."  "We  don't  want  your 
negroes  or  your  horses  or  your  houses  or  your  lands  or  anything 
you  have ;  but  we  do  want,  and  will  have,  a  just  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  the  United  States."  "  I  want  peace,  and  believe  it  can 
only  be  reached  through  union  and  war.  .  .  .  When  peace  does 
come  you  may  call  on  me  for  anything.  Then  I  will  share  with 
you  the  last  cracker,  and  watch  with  you  to  shield  your  homes  and 
families  against  danger  from  every  quarter."  1 

499.  Admission  of  two  new  states;    the  presidential  election 
(1864).    During  the   progress  of  the  war  two  new  states,  West 
Virginia  (1863)  and  Nevada  (1864),  were  admitted  to  the  Union, 
making  the  total  number  thirty-six.     The  latter  was  admitted  in 
order  to  secure  the  full  number  of  states  necessary  to  ratify  the 
thirteenth  amendment  (§  476)  ;  for,  said  Lincoln,  "  It  is  easier  to 
admit  Nevada  than  it  is  to  raise  another  million  of  soldiers."  2 
Its  state  constitution  was  the  first  ever  adopted  which  formally 
denied  the  right  of  secession  (§  509). 

1  See  Sherman's  Memoirs,  II,  126.  2  See  Dana's  Civil  War,  174-175. 


498  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1864 

While  Grant  was  besieging  Petersburg  and  Sherman  was  holding 
Atlanta  the  presidential  election  took  place  (1864).  Originally 
three  candidates  were  in  the  field.  The  Radical  Republicans,  who 
thought  Lincoln  moved  too  slowly  and  dealt  too  tenderly  with 
"  the  rebellion,"  had  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  (§  472).  In  Sep 
tember  (1864)  Fremont  withdrew  his  name,  and  the  Radicals  then 
joined  forces  with  the  regular  Republicans.  They,  in  connection 
with  many  War  Democrats,  united  in  renominating  Lincoln,  with 
Andrew  Johnson,  a  War  Democrat  of  Tennessee,  for  Vice  Presi 
dent.  The  Union  Convention  warmly  indorsed  the  measures  of 
the  administration.  They  voted  the  thanks  of  the  American 
people  to  the  army  and  navy  that  had  vindicated  the  honor  of 
the  country's  flag,  they  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  the  speedy 
construction  of  a  railway  to  the  Pacific,  and  they  pledged  the 
national  faith  for  the  payment  of  the  public  debt. 

The  Democratic  Convention,  under  the  control  of  the  Peace 
Democracy  (§  456),  declared  that  the  object  of  the  party  was  "  to 
preserve  the  federal  Union  and  the  rights  of  the  states  unimpaired." 
They  accused  the  administration  of  violating  the  Constitution 
under  plea  of  military  necessity.  They  further  declared  that  "  after 
four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union  by  the  experiment  of 
war,"  the  public  welfare  demanded  "  that  immediate  efforts  be 
made  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities."  Like  the  Republicans,  they 
acknowledged  the  debt  they  owed  to  "  the  brave  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  the  Republic,"  and  pledged  themselves  to  secure  to  them 
the  care  and  protection  that  they  had  so  "  nobly  earned." 

The  convention  nominated  General  McClellan  for  the  presi 
dency.  McClellan  virtually  repudiated  the  platform  on  which 
he  was  nominated.  He  said:  "The  Union  must  be  preserved 
at  all  hazards.  I  could  not  look  in  the  face  of  my  gallant  com 
rades  of  the  army  and  navy,  who  have  survived  so  many  bloody 
battles,  and  tell  them  that  their  labors  and  the  sacrifices  of  so 
many  of  our  slain  and  wounded  brethren  had  been  in  vain." 

Twenty-five  states  took  part  in  the  election,  and  of  these 
thirteen  cast  an  army  vote  as  well  as  a  home  vote.  McClellan 


1864]  THE    WAR   OF   SECESSION  499 

received  2 1  electoral  votes  ;  Lincoln  received  212,  carrying  every 
state  which  took  part  in  the  election  except  New  Jersey,  Delaware, 
and  Kentucky.  The  popular  Democratic  vote  stood  1,808,725  to 
2,216,067  cast  for  the  Republican  candidate. 

500.  Allatoona;  Sherman  burns  Atlanta  and  sets  out  for  the 
sea.  While  Sherman  was  holding  Atlanta  (§  498)  a  Confederate 
force  had  attacked  Allatoona,  Sherman's  secondary  base  of  sup 
plies.  General  Corse  fought  desperately  to  hold  the  place.  He 
lost  nearly  a  third  of  his  little  force  and  reported  himself  "  short 
a  cheek  and  an  ear,"  but  he  held  out  until  help  arrived  and 
the  attacking  party  withdrew.  Sherman  issued  a  general  order 
giving  Corse  high  praise  for  his  gallant  defense  of  this  important 
position. 

But  the  Union  commander  saw  that  he  could  hardly  hope  to 
advance  into  the  heart  of  the  Confederacy  and  at  the  same  time 
keep  his  lines  of  communication  open  in  the  rear.  His  supplies 
of  food,  ammunition,  arms,  and  clothing,  amounting  to  150  car 
loads  a  day,  had  to  come  all  the  way  from  Nashville  by  a  single- 
track  road,  which  might  be  cut  at  any  time. 

With  Grant's  consent,  Sherman  now  decided  on  the  boldest 
move  of  the  war.  He  resolved  to  abandon  Atlanta,  sever  all 
communication  with  the  North,  and  strike  out  across  the  country 
for  the  sea,  "  smashing  things  "  as  he  went. 

He  first  destroyed  the  railway  and  telegraph  lines  in  his  rear 
so  that  the  enemy  could  not  use  them.  He  next  applied  the 
torch  to  Atlanta,  burning  all  factories,  machine  shops,  and  other 
works,  so  that  they  could  be  of  no  use  to  the  Confederate  forces 
in  case  they  should  reoccupy  the  city. 

Then  (November  15,  1864),  with  60,000  "  as  good  soldiers  as 
ever  trod  the  earth,"  he  set  off  on  his  great  march.1  As  the 
Union  army  left  the  smoking  ruins  of  Atlanta  a  band  struck  up 
"John  Brown's  soul  goes  marching  on,"  and  regiment  after 
regiment  spontaneously  broke  out  into  the  "  Hallelujah  "  chorus 
of  that  famous  song. 

1  See  Sherman's  Memoirs,  II,  171-190. 


500          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1864 

501.  Sherman's  u  bummers";  the  u  freedmen."  Sherman  car 
ried  a  goodly  store  of  provisions  with  him,  but  he  purposed  to 
draw  largely  from  the  region  through  which  he  passed.  His 
orders  were,  "Forage  liberally."  Every  morning  a  body  of  men 
nicknamed  "  bummers"  set  out  to  obtain  supplies.  They  started 
on  foot,  scouring  the  country  for  many  miles  in  every  direction ; 
at  night  they  came  back  mounted  on  horses  or  mules  or  riding  in 
some  family  carriage,  and  laden  down  with  pigs,  chickens,  hams, 
bags  of  sweet  potatoes,  and  jugs  of  molasses.  What  with  his 


IslKmfcZ 


SHERMAN'S  MARCH 
Chattanooga  to  Atlanta  ;  Atlanta  to  Savannah  ;  Savannah  to  Raleigh 

cavalry  and  his  foraging  parties  Sherman  cut  a  swath  not  far  from 
sixty  miles  in  width.  The  Confederate  forces  were  not  strong 
enough  to  oppose  him  and  retired  as  he  advanced.  Their 
"bummers"  —  for  they,  like  Sherman,  lived  off  the  country  — 
were  quite  as  greedy  for  good  things  as  the  Union  men.  Between 
the  ravages  of  the  two  the  plantations  were  stripped  bare. 

As  Sherman  advanced  he  systematically  destroyed  all  lines  of 
railway  in  order  to  cripple  the  Confederate  means  of  transporta 
tion.  The  soldiers  not  only  tore  up  the  rails  but  heated  them 
red-hot  in  huge  fires  and  then  twisted  them  round  trees. 


18G4J  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  501 

The  negroes  welcomed  the  "  boys  in  blue"  with  frantic  joy. 
They  shouted,  hugged  the  regimental  colors,  and  crowded  round 
Sherman  with  prayers  and  tears  that  he  says  "  would  have  moved 
a  stone."  To  them  the  stern  destroyer  was  the  "  angel  of  the 
Lord  "  who  had  come  to  set  them  free. 

502.  Milledgeville ;  Savannah;  Thomas  crushes  Hood.  Sher 
man  reached  Milledgeville,  the  capital  of  Georgia,  late  in  Novem 
ber  (1864)  and  burned  all  buildings  which  the  Confederates 
could  use  for  military  purposes.  He  then  moved  forward,  by 
way  of  Millen,  to  Savannah.  Early  in  December  (1864),  twenty- 
four  days  after  leaving  Atlanta,  he  reached  the  sea  and  put  him 
self  in  communication  with  the  federal  gunboats.  He  stormed 
Fort  McAllister,  entered  the  port  which  it  guarded,  and  sent 
word  to  the  President,  "  I  beg  to  present  you  as  a  Christmas  gift 
the  city  of  Savannah."  The  message  reached  the  White  House 
on  Christmas  Eve  (1864). 

Sherman  remained  at  Savannah  more  than  a  month  in  order 
to  rest  his  army.  In  his  great  march  of  300  miles  through  the 
heart  of  the  Confederacy  he  had  lost  less  than  800  men. 

At  the  battle  of  Franklin,  Tennessee,  Hood  (§  497)  was 
repulsed  by  a  part  of  Thomas'  force,  which  then  retired  to  Nash 
ville.  The  Confederate  general  next  moved  against  the  "  Rock 
of  Chickamauga "  himself  (§  488),  but  on  that  rock  he  was 
dashed  to  pieces.  The  battle  of  Nashville  (December  1 5 ,  1 6,  1864) 
ended  in  the  utter  rout  of  Hood's  army  as  an  effective  force. 

The  great  mass  of  his  men  was  reduced  to  a  "disheartened 
and  disorganized  rabble,"  glad  to  throw  down  their  arms  in  order 
to  end  their  sufferings.  But  Hood's  famous  rear  guard  never 
flinched  and  Thomas  gladly  paid  them  the  tribute  of  respect  that 
a  brave  man  never  grudges  to  brave  men,  no  matter  how  mis 
taken  their  cause  may  be.  The  victory  at  Nashville  was  far- 
reaching.1  It  put  an  end  to  all  thoughts  of  the  invasion  of  the 

1  Official  estimate:  Union  force,  70,272;  available  force  in  and  about  Nashville, 
December  15,  1864,  at  least  55,000;  Confederate  force,  nearly  39,000.  Union  loss, 
3057;  Confederate  loss,  15,000. 


502          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1864 

North  and  left'  only  one  strong  Confederate  army  in  the  field, 
and  that  was  gathered  about  Richmond. 

503.  The  "  Kearsarge  "  fights  the  "  Alabama  " ;  Farragut  enters 
Mobile ;  capture  of  Fort  Fisher.  While  these  stirring  events  were 
taking  place  on  land  the  Union  navy  was  doing  its  full  part  at 
sea  and  along  the  coast  (§  508).  Of  the  score  of  Confederate 
cruisers  (§454)  which  roamed  the  ocean  "seeking  what  they 
might  devour  "  none  was  so  much  dreaded  as  the  notorious  Ala 
bama.  She  was  built  (1862)  in  a  British  shipyard,  armed  with 
British  guns,  and  manned  in  great  part  by  British  sailors  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Semmes.1  In  less  than  two  years  Semmes 
captured  nearly  seventy  American  merchantmen  and  destroyed 
property  worth  $10,000,000. 

Captain  Winslow  of  the  United  States  man-of-war  Kearsarge, 
after  vainly  cruising  for  months,  at  length  encountered  the  Ala 
bama  off  Cherbourg,  France.  After  a  memorable  battle  (June 
19,  1864)  the  Union  commander  sent  this  scourge  of  the  ocean 
to  the  bottom. 

Late  in  the  summer  (1864),  Farragut,2  the  hero  of  New 
Orleans  (§  467),  entered  Mobile  Bay.  He  said  it  was  "  one  of 
the  hardest  earned  victories  of  his  life."  The  entrance  to  the  bay 
was  defended  by  forts  on  opposite  sides,  by  a  thickly  rammed 
line  of  piles,  and  by  a  triple  line  of  torpedoes,  which  left  only  a 
narrow  opening  into  the  harbor.  Inside  the  bay  the  Tennessee, 

1  The  Alabama  was  built  by  the  Lairds  of  Birkenhead,  England,  for  the  Con 
federate  States.     Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  our  minister  to  England,  urged  the 
English  government  not  to  permit  her  to  sail.     After  much  delay  the  law  officers 
of  the  Crown  recommended  her  seizure,  but  on  that  very  day  (July  29,  1862)  she 
escaped  and  soon  afterward  began  her  career  of  destruction.     The  following  year 
the  Lairds  built  two  powerful  ironclad  rams  for  the  Confederate  States.    Mr.  Adams 
asked  the  English  government  to  detain  them.     The  head  of  the  Foreign  Office 
replied  that  the  legal  evidence  was  insufficient.     Mr.  Adams  rejoined  with  a  dis 
patch  in  which  he  said,  "  It  would  be  superfluous  in  me  to  point  out  to  your  lordship 
that  this  is  war."     Shortly  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter  the  English  authorities 
issued  orders  to  seize  and  hold  the  rams. 

2  Farragut,  Scott,  and  Thomas  were  all  southerners  by  birth  ;  but  they,  unlike 
General  Lee,  felt  that  they  owed  their  first  duty  to  the  Union  instead  of  to  their 
state. 


FLAG 


WESTER*  GULF  BLOCKADING  SQUADRON. 


FARRAGUT'S    LETTER 


1864-1865]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  503 

a  formidable  ironclad  ram,  stood  ready  to  receive  the  attacking 
party. 

Farragut  fully  realized  the  desperate  work  before  him.  The  day 
preceding  the  battle  he  wrote  home,  "  I  am  going  into  Mobile 
in  the  morning,  if  God  is  my  leader,  as  I  hope  he  is." 

The  Union  commander's  favorite  maxim  was,  "  To  hurt  your 
enemy  is  the  best  way  to  keep  him  from  hurting  you."  He  acted 
on  that  maxim  at  Mobile.  Lashed  in  the  rigging  of  the  Hartford, 
Farragut,  with  his  fleet  of  four  ironclads  and  fifteen  wooden  ves 
sels,  fought  his  way  foot  by  foot  into  the  harbor  (August  5,  1864). 
The  forts  soon  afterwards  surrendered  to  the  attack  of  a  land 
force,  and  the  last  important  port  on  the  Gulf  coast  was  occupied 
by  the  Union  forces.  In  1862  he  was  made  rear-admiral. 

In  recognition  of  Farragut's  distinguished  service  Congress 
created  the  office  of  vice  admiral  for  him  (December,  1864),  and 
later  (1866)  that  of  admiral.  He  had  fairly  won  them  both. 

Near  the  close  of  1864  Porter's  fleet,  aided  by  a  land  force 
under  Butler,  made  an  attack  on  Fort  Fisher,  which  guarded  the 
entrance  of  the  harbor  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  It  was 
the  only  port  in  the  Confederacy  which  remained  open  to  block 
ade  runners.  The  attack  failed.  The  next  month  (January  13- 
15,  1865)  a  second  assault  was  made  by  Porter  and  Terry.  The 
garrison  of  the  fort  fought  bravely,  but  none  the  less  they  had  at 
last  to  haul  down  the  "stars  and  bars"  and  see  the  "stars  and 
stripes  "  hoisted  in  their  place. 

504.  Sherman  advances  northward ;  arrival  at  Columbia.  It  was 
Grant's  intention  to  transport  Sherman's  army  from  Savannah 
(§502)  to  Virginia  by  sea;  but  Sherman  believed  that  if  he 
marched  through  the  Carolinas  he  could  render  the  cause  of 
the  Union  more  effective  service.  He  consulted  Grant  on  this 
point  and  received  permission  to  carry  out  his  plan.  The  march 
through  Georgia  was  regarded  as  something  like  a  "  military 
picnic,"  but  the  forward  movement  presented  many  formidable 
obstacles.  It  would  be  necessary  for  the  men  to  build  bridges 
over  numerous  swollen  streams,  to  wade  at  times  breast  deep 


504          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1865 

in  water,  to  hew  their  way  through  dense  forests,  to  construct 
scores  of  miles  of  "corduroy"  road  over  treacherous  soil  and 
swamp,  and  finally  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  fight  John 
ston's  army.  That  the  men  did  their  work  thoroughly  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  Johnston  himself  complimented  Sherman's 
veterans  by  saying,  "  There  had  been  no  such  army  since  the 
days  of  Julius  Caesar." 

Sherman  began  his  march  from  Savannah  on  February  i,  1865, 
and  in  less  than  three  weeks  he  entered  Columbia,  the  capital 
of  South  Carolina.  He  found  the  city  on  fire.  When  Wade 
Hampton,  the  Confederate  general,  retreated,  he  applied  the 
torch  to  a  quantity  of  cotton  and  the  flames  spread  to  the  houses. 
Sherman  ordered  his  men  to  endeavor  to  stop  the  progress  of 
the  conflagration ;  but  a  high  wind  made  this  impossible  and 
the  heart  of  the  city  was  burned  out.  The  Union  soldiers  nat 
urally  felt  no  scruples  about  helping  themselves  to  the  old  wines, 
silverware,  and  rich  carpets  which  the  wealthy  secessionists  of 
Charleston  had  sent  to  Columbia  for  safe-keeping.  Had  Sher 
man  deliberately  plundered  and  then  burned  the  city  he  would 
have  done  no  more  than  Early's  cavalry  had  done  at  Chambers- 
burg  (§  494).  On  the  contrary,  when  the  Union  commander 
left  Columbia  he  gave  the  mayor  generous  supplies  of  food  to 
feed  the  destitute. 

505.  Capture  of  Charleston;  battles  of  Averysboro  and  Ben- 
tonville ;  conference  at  Hampton  Roads ;  Lincoln's  second 
inauguration.  Now  that  Sherman's  army  had  got  in  the  rear 
of  Charleston,  and  by  breaking  up  the  railway  had  cut  off  sup 
plies,  the  Confederates  gave  up  the  attempt  to  hold  the  city. 
The  Union  forces  when  they  entered  it  (February  18,  1865) 
found  it  on  fire,  but  by  hard  work  they  saved  it  from  entire 
destruction. 

By  the  middle  of  March  (1865)  Sherman  was  far  on  his  way 
to  Raleigh,  the  capital  of  North  Carolina.  He  encountered 
Johnston's  army  near  Kinston  and  at  Averysboro  and  Benton- 
ville  (March  14,  16,  19—21,  1865).  After  some  sharp  fighting, 


1865]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  505 

especially  at  Bentonville,  the  Confederates  retreated  and  Sher 
man  entered  Goldsboro  (March  23,  186s).1  Here  the  great 
march  virtually  ended.  Sherman  then  went  to  City  Point  to 
meet  the  President,  General  Grant,  and  Rear  Admiral  Porter 
to  complete  arrangements  for  beginning  the  last  campaign  of 
the  war. 

Meanwhile  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  with  two  other  Confed 
erate  commissioners,  met  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward 
at  Hampton  Roads  (February  3,  1865)  and  made  overtures  for 
peace.2  The  commissioners  "  were  not  authorized  to  concede 
the  reunion  of  the  states."  The  President  would  not  treat  on 
any  other  basis,  and  so  the  conference  ended  without  accom 
plishing  anything. 

The  next  month  (March  4,  1865)  Lincoln  entered  upon  his 
second  term  of  office.  He  finished  his  inaugural  address  with 
these  words  :  "  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that 
this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet  if  God 
will  that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and 
until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by 
another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years 
ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  *  The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are 
true  and  righteous  altogether.'  With  malice  toward  none ;  with 
charity  for  all ;  with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see 
the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in ;  to  bind  up 
the  nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  'shall  have  borne  the 
battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphan,  —  to  do  all  which  may 

1  Official  estimate :    Union  force,  about  58,000 ;  Confederate  force  reported  by 
Johnston  at  much  less  than  20,000.     Union  loss  at  Bentonville,  1646 ;  Confederate 
loss  reported  by  Johnston,  2606. 

2  In  July,  1864,  certain  Confederates  in  Canada  wrote  to  Horace  Greeley  pro 
posing  a  Peace  Conference  at  Niagara.     Greeley  urged  the  President  to  respond 
favorably  to  it,  saying,  "  It  may  save  us  from  a  northern  insurrection."     The  Presi 
dent  deputed  Greeley  to  meet  the  Confederates  in  Canada,  but  explicitly  declined 
to  consider  any  terms  proposed  unless  responsibly  accredited  agents  of  the  Confed 
erate  government  would  come  to  Washington  and  present  their  case.     The  whole 
matter  terminated  in  failure.     See  Greeley's  American  Conflict,  II,  664. 


506          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves 
and  with  all  nations." 

506.  Sheridan's  raid ;  fall  of  Petersburg  and  of  Richmond ; 
surrender  of  Lee  and  Johnston;  assassination  of  Lincoln.  In  the 
field  of  war,  events  now  moved  rapidly  toward  the  final  crisis. 
Sheridan's  cavalry  destroyed  (March  19,  1865)  a  part  of  the 
James  River  Canal  and  the  Lynchburg  Railway  which  furnished 
supplies  for  Richmond.  He  then  pushed  on  to  Five  Forks, 
twelve  miles  southwest  of  Petersburg,  overwhelmed  the  Confed 
erate  garrison  at  that  important  road  center  (April  i,  1865),  and 
took  nearly  6000  prisoners.  The  capture  of  Five  Forks  cut  off 
Lee's  supplies  for  Petersburg.  The  Confederate  general  saw  that 
he  must  abandon  the  town,  and  he  knew  that  if  he  gave  up 
Petersburg  he  must  give  up  Richmond. 

The  next  day  (April  2,  1865)  Grant  ordered  the  final  assault 
on  Petersburg.  It  was  gallantly  defended,  but  it  fell.  That 
night  Lee  retreated  from  both  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  and 
Jefferson  Davis  fled,  but  was  soon  afterward  captured.1  On  the 
following  day  (April  3,  1865)  the  Union  forces  entered  the  Con 
federate  capital. 

Lee's  only  hope  of  escape  now  lay  in  moving  southward  and 
uniting  with  Johnston.  He  had  nearly  30,000  men  left,  but  they 
were  in  a  starving  condition  and  many  threw  away  their  arms 
and  took  to  the  woods.  Sheridan  intercepted  the  remnant  of  the 
Confederate  leader's  force  before  he  could  reach  Johnston.  On 
April  9,  1865,  Lee  surrendered  to  Grant  at  Appomattox  Court 
House.  Grant  treated  his  fallen  foe  with  characteristic  magna 
nimity.  He  simply  stipulated  that  Lee's  army  should  lay  down  their 
arms  and  pledge  themselves  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

1  Jefferson  Davis  was  imprisoned  in  Fort  Monroe ;  he  was  indicted  for  treason, 
but  was  released  on  bail  in  1867.  On  Christmas  Day,  1868,  President  Johnson 
granted  a  full,  unconditional  pardon  to  all  persons  who  had  been  engaged  "  in  the 
late  insurrection  or  rebellion."  The  government,  therefore,  took  no  further  action 
against  Davis ;  with  the  single  exception  of  disability  to  hold  office,  imposed  by  the 
fourteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (which  Congress  refused  to  remove), 
Davis  was  relieved  from  all  penalties  for  his  attempt  to  destroy  the  Union.  He 
died  at  New  Orleans  in  1889. 


u]  Mu^ 


WJls 


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t  / 


{slcf 


LEE'S    LETTER    OF    SURRENDER 


1865]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  507 

He  allowed  the  men  to  take  their  horses  home  with  them  "  to  work 
their  little  farms."  The  Union  commander  then  issued  an  order 
to  furnish  Lee's  half- famished  army  with  25,000  rations.1  Mean 
while  the  "men  in  blue"  and  the  "men  in  gray"  were  mingling 
as  friends.  The  Union  soldiers  made  haste  to  share  their  pro 
visions  with  their  former  antagonists,  and  the  officers  of  both 
armies  greeted  each  other  with  the  heartiness  of  fellow-countrymen 
who  felt  that  they  were  no  longer  foes,  but  that  henceforth  they 
would  fight  under  the  same  flag. 

Less  than  three  weeks  later,  Johnston  surrendered  his  army 
(April  26,  1865)  to  Sherman  near  Raleigh.  But  in  the  midst  of 
the  nation's  joy  a  terrible  crime  had  been  committed.  On  the  very 
day  (April  14,  1865)  that  the  Union  flag  was  restored  on  Fort 
Sumter  (§  449)  President  Lincoln  fell  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.2 
Many  of  the  people  of  the  South  mingled  their  tears  with  those 
of  the  North  over  the  bier  of  one  whom  "  they  knew  to  have 
wished  them  well."  The  work  of  reconstruction  which  Lincoln 
began  (§511)  late  in  1863  now  devolved  on  President  Johnson. 

507.  Summary  of  the  fourth  and  last  year  of  the  war.  In  the 
spring  of  1864  Grant  entered  upon  his  famous  "hammering  cam 
paign  "  against  Richmond,  while  at  the  same  time  Sherman  (by 
his  orders)  moved  against  Atlanta.  After  the  capture  of  Atlanta, 
Sherman  set  out  on  his  great  march  for  Savannah.  Thence  he 
moved  northward  to  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina,  beating  back 
Johnston  as  he  advanced. 

1  In  speaking  of  Lee's  surrender  Grant  says :  "  I  felt  like  anything  rather  than 
rejoicing  at  the  downfall  of  a  foe  who  had  fought  so  long  and  valiantly,  and  had 
suffered  so  much  for  a  cause,  though  that  cause  was,  I  believe,  one  of  the  worst  for 
which  a  people  ever  fought,  and  one  for  which  there  was  the  least  excuse.    I  do  not 
question,  however,  the  sincerity  of  the  great  mass  of  those  who  were  opposed  to 
us."     Grant's  Personal  Memoirs,  II,  489. 

2  The  President  was  shot  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  an  obscure  half-crazed  actor, 
and  died  the  following  morning  (April  15).    Booth  was  one  of  a  number  of  conspira 
tors  who  formed  a  plot  to  assassinate  the  President,  the  Vice  President,  Secretary 
Seward,  and  General  Grant.     The  plot  had  no  political  significance  and  the  southern 
leaders  had  no  knowledge  of  its  existence.     Booth  escaped,  but  was  soon  afterwards 
shot  in  his  hiding  place  ;  the  remaining  conspirators  were  tried  by  military  commis 
sion,  and  four  were  convicted  of  murder  and  hanged. 


508          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1865 

Farragut  had  entered  Mobile  Bay,  and  Grant,  after  a  series  of 
terrible  battles,  had  moved  round  to  the  south  side  of  the  James 
River  and  begun  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  sending  Sheridan  to 
drive  the  Confederates  out  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  Grant  took  Petersburg  and  Richmond 
and  forced  Lee  to  surrender  at  Appomattox  Court  House.  A 
few  weeks  later,  Johnston  surrendered  to  Sherman.  The  national 
flag  had  already  been  restored  at  Fort  Sumter,  but  the  President 
had  been  assassinated  and  the  work  of  reconstruction  had  fallen 
to  President  Johnson. 

508.  The  two  decisive  forces;  the  blockade;  total  number  of 
battles ;  cost  of  the  war  in  life  and  treasure.  The  Union  armies 
and  the  blockading  squadrons  worked  together  like  upper  and 
nether  millstones.  While  Grant  and  Sherman's  immense  land 
forces  crushed  all  organized  resistance,  the  national  sea  forces 
blockaded  the  coast  of  the  Southern  States  and  eventually  cut 
off  all  help  from  abroad. 

The  work  which  this  fleet  of  more  than  600  war-ships  accom 
plished  attracted  hardly  any  attention  when  compared  with  the 
military  operations  on  land,  but  in  its  way  it  was  equally  effectual. 
Few  coasts  are  more  tempestuous  than  the  southern  Atlantic,  and 
the  men  who  for  four  years  stood  at  their  posts  of  duty  along  that 
storm-swept  line  braved  hardships  and  perils  that  would  have 
appalled  any  but  the  stoutest  hearts. 

When  President  Lincoln  declared  the  thirty  or  more  ports  of 
the  Confederate  States  sealed  up,  foreign  powers  looked  upon  it 
as  a  mere  "paper  blockade,"  which  any  daring  vessel  might 
break  through  at  will.  But  gradually  upwards  of  3000  miles 
of  coast  were  brought  under  patrol  and  more  than  1500  block 
ade  runners  were  captured,  destroyed,  or  driven  ashore  and 
wrecked. 

In  time  the  blockade  had  a  twofold  effect :  first,  it  shut  out 
foreign  supplies  and  so  threw  the  Confederates  entirely  upon  their 
own  limited  resources ;  next,  it  made  it  impossible  for  them  to 
export  their  cotton,  and  it  converted  the  slaves,  who  had  been 


1865]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  509 

wealth  producers,  into  mere  food  producers.  This  prevented 
Jefferson  Davis  from  getting  money  to  keep  up  the  contest,  so 
that  when  the  war  ended  cotton  worth  $300,000,000  in  gold  was 
found  stored  away  in  different  parts  of  the  South. 

On  land,  military  operations  never  stopped,  and  fighting  was 
taking  place  somewhere  along  the  line  every  day. 

The  total  number  of  engagements,  great  and  small,  counted  up 
over  2000.  On  the  Union  side  the  loss  of  life  reached  a  total  of 
over  360,000,  of  whom  the  greater  part  are  buried  in  the  national 
cemeteries  at  Gettysburg  and  elsewhere.  Probably  the  South  lost 
as  many  as  the t North;  if  so,  we  have  a  total  of  over  720,000. 
At  the  North  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  men l  who  entered  the 
ranks  were  American  born ;  at  the  South  nearly  all  were  so.  The 
average  age,  at  enlistment,  of  those  who  entered  the  Union  army 
is  said  to  have  not  exceeded  twenty- two.  The  expense  of  the 
war  to  the  national  government,  above  the  ordinary  expenses, 
was  about  $3,250,000,000,  the  average  cost  being  over  $2,000,- 
ooo  a  day  (or  nearly  $1400  a  minute)  for  the  entire  four  years. 
Perhaps  as  much  as  $600,000,000  of  the  total  war  expenses 
must  be  charged  to  the  heavy  depreciation  in  the  paper  money 
issued  by  the  government.2  On  the  other  hand,  allowance  must 
be  made  for  the  fact  that  the  government  settled  most  of  its  bills, 

1  The  total  number  of  men  who  entered  the  Union  army  and  navy  is  given  by 
Phisterer,  in  his  Statistical  Record  of  the  Civil  War,  at  somewhat  over  2,850,000 
(counting  those  who  reenlisted  and  including  186,097  colored  troops) ;  but  Greeley 
(American  Conflict,  II,  759)  estimates  the  actual  number  of  men  who  effectively 
participated  in  putting  down  the  rebellion  at  about  1,500.000.     The  border  states  of 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Missouri,  and  Kentucky  furnished  no  less  than  252,122  men  to 
the  Union  army;  Tennessee  (mainly  eastern  Tennessee),  31,092  ;  and  West  Virginia, 
32,068.     On  April  15,  1861,  President  Lincoln  called  for  75,000  three-months'  men  ; 
between  May  and  July,  1861,  he  called  for  500,000  men  for  from  six  months  to  three 
years;  in  July,  1862,  he  called  for  300,000  three-years'  men;  and  in  August,  1862, 
for  300,000  militia  for  nine  months'  service,  but  obtained  only  87,588  ;  in  June,  1863, 
a  call  for  militia  for  six  months'  service  brought  16,361 ;  in  October,  1863,  and  Feb 
ruary,  1864,  he  called  for  500,000  men  in  the  aggregate  for  three  years.     In  these 
calls  the  men  raised  by  draft  in  1863  are  included.     In  March,  1864,  he  called  for 
200,000  three-years'  men  ;  in  July,  1864,  for  500,000;  and  finally,  in  December,  1864, 
for  300,000. 

2  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  293. 


510          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1865 

including  those  due  the  army  and  navy,  in  "  greenbacks,"  l  which 
were  worth  much  less  than  gold  (§455). 

The  United  States,  says  Colonel  Dodge,2  paid  its  soldiers  more 
liberally  than  any  other  nation  ever  did  before ;  besides  this  they 
received  $300,000,000  in  bounties,  and  the  government  has  since 
paid  them  over  $3,000,000,000  in  pensions  (§  555);  including 
the  pensions  still  to  be  disbursed,  the  sum  may  easily  reach  a  total 
of  more  than  $5,000,000,000.  If  we  add  the  amounts  spent  by 
states  and  towns  for  the  war,  the  grand  total  would  probably 
exceed  $8,000,000,000,  — or  more  than  the  entire  assessed  valu 
ation  of  the  loyal  states  at  the  outbreak  of  the  contest  (§  453). 

The  expenditure  on  the  secession  side  cannot  be  reckoned; 
but  it  may  be  said  with  entire  truth  that  the  people  of  the  South 
stripped  themselves  bare  and  spent  their  last  dollar  in  their 
desperate  effort  to  tear  the  Union  asunder.  Besides  these 
losses,  the  Union  armies  destroyed  property  in  that  section  to 
an  incalculable  amount. 

509.  Results  of  the  war.  But  however  enormous  the  expendi 
ture  of  life  and  treasure,  the  economic,  political,  and  moral  results 
of  the  war  for  the  Union  have,  fully  justified  the  cost.  It  is  true 
that  it  entailed  serious  evils  on  the  country,  for  it  begot  extrava 
gance,  criminal  waste,  wild  speculation,  gigantic  frauds,3  and 
political  corruption  ;  it  disorganized  regular  labor  to  a  consider 
able  extent  and  temporarily  increased  pauperism  ;  but  in  the  end 
the  good  it  achieved  far  outbalanced  these  evils. 

i.  The  war  freed  not  only  the  South,  but  the  whole  country, 
from  the  burden  and  curse  of  slavery.  It  made  it  possible  to 
develop  the  immense  natural  resources  of  that  section,  which  had 
in  great  measure  lain  dormant  since  colonization  began.  New 

1  Up  to  May  i,  1864,  the  pay  of  a  private  was  $13%  month,  after  that  date  it  was 
raised  to  $16  a  month. 

2  See  Dodge's  Bird's-Eye  View  of  the  Civil  War  (revised  edition),  326. 

3  Colonel  Henry  S.  Olcott,  who  was  employed  by  Secretary  Stanton  to  unearth 
frauds  perpetrated  by  contractors  and  others  on  the  government,  estimated  that  "  over 
$700,000,000  was  paid  to  public  robbers  or  worse  than  wasted  through  improvident 
methods."     See  The  Philadelphia  Weekly  Times,  "  Annals  of  the  War,"  723. 


1865]  THE   WAR   OF   SECESSION  511 

energy,  new  life,  new  enterprises  have  sprung  up,  which  have 
stimulated  industry,  disseminated  education,  and  re-created  the 
South.  These  influences  are  making  it  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
and  wealthy  parts  of  the  Republic.  The  negro  shares  in  this  new 
life.  A  little  more  than  a  generation  ago  he  was  so  poor  that  he 
did  not  own  himself;  to-day  he  is  a  free  laborer,  the  maker  of 
his  own  future  and  the  possessor  of  property  assessed  at  many 
millions. 

2.  The  war  not  only  saved  the  Union  but  perfected  it.     It 
prohibited  the  secession  principle  forever  (§  355  )  and  stamped  that 
prohibition  ineffaceably  upon    the  Constitution  "by  blood  and 
iron."     Ex-Governor  Wise  of  Virginia  said  after  the  long  struggle 
was  over  and  the  negro  was  set  free,  "  It  was  God's  war."    In  that 
magnanimous  spirit  the  South,  generally,  has,  as  General  Long- 
street  shows  (§  513),  accepted  the  issue,  and  nine  of  the  states 
which  seceded  have  adopted  new  constitutions  or  amended  old 
ones,  repudiating  disunion  as  treason.1    Thus  the  terrible  contest 
completed  the  work  of  the  founders  of  the  Republic,  and,  in  the 
words  of  the  Supreme  Court  (Texas  vs.  White -,  1868),  it  made  the 
nation  "  an  indestructible  union  "  of  "  indestructible  states."    In 
doing  this  the  war  showed  the  world  that  there  is  nothing  stronger 
or  more  stable  than  what  President  Lincoln  called  "  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,"  and  "  for  the  people." 

3.  Finally,  the  contest  lifted  the  whole  nation  to  a  higher  moral 
level.     In  doing  away  with  slavery  and  with  the  evils  which  slavery 
inflicted  on  black  and  white  alike,  it  made  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  true  not  of  one  favored  race  but  of  all  who  to-day 
claim  the  name  and  the  rights  of  American  citizens.     By  accom 
plishing  this  great  work  the  war  has  made  North  and  South  one 
in  purpose,  in  patriotism,  in  brotherhood.     It  has  established  a 
Union  resting  on  mutual  respect,  and  on  heart  and  conscience, 
which  will  stand  as  long  as  heart  and  conscience  are  obeyed. 

1  See  Poore's  Federal  and  State  Constitutions. 


VII 
RECONSTRUCTION,  THE  NEW  NATION1 

(1865  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME) 

For  authorities  for  this  chapter,  see  footnotes  and  the  classified 
list  of  books  in  the  Appendix,  page  xxiv 

510.  President  Johnson  (1865-1869) ;  his  previous  record ;  atti 
tude  toward  .the  South.  A  few  hours  after  the  death  of  Lincoln 
(April  15,  1865)  Vice  President  Johnson  took  the  oath  of  office 
which  made  him  head  of  the  Republic.  Like  Lincoln,  Johnson 
sprang  from  the  class  then  known  at  the  South  as  "  poor  whites." 
He  began  the  practical  work  of  life  at  the  tailor's  board  in  a  log 
cabin  in  eastern  Tennessee.  He  had  never  attended  school,  but 
he  taught  himself  to  read,  and  his  wife  taught  him  to  write.  His 
ambition  and  force  of  character  led  him  to  enter  the  field  of  local 
politics.  He  became  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  workingmen  in 
his  section  in  their  contest  with  the  slaveholding  aristocracy.  He 
rose  step  by  step  until  he  became  governor  of  his  state ;  soon 
afterward  the  Democrats  elected  him  (1857)  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  He  was  the  only  southern  man  in  the  Senate  who  stood 
resolutely  by  the  Union  and  openly  denounced  secession  as 
"unholy  rebellion." 

1  See  Wilson's  Division  and  Reunion,  254-299 ;  Bryant  and  Gay's  United  States 
(revised  edition),  V  ;  Wilson's  United  States,  V;  Rhodes'  United  States,  V  ;  Burgess' 
Reconstruction  and  the  Constitution ;  Andrews'  The  United  States  in  our  Time 
(1870-1903);  Scribner's  American  History  Series,  V,  VI;  Elaine's  Twenty  Years 
of  Congress;  Johnston's  American  Politics  (revised  edition);  Brown's  United  States 
since  the  Civil  War;  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes;  Dewey's  financial  History 
of  the  United  States;  Woodburn's  Political  Parties;  Stan  wood's  The  Presidency; 
Mason's  Veto  Power;  Merriam's  Political  Theories;  McPherson's  Political  History 
of  Reconstruction  ;  McKee's  Conventions  and  Platforms. 

5r2 


1865]         RECONSTRUCTION,   THE    NEW   NATION         513 

In  the  spring  of  1862  President  Lincoln  appointed  Senator 
Johnson  military  governor  of  Tennessee.  He  greatly  strength 
ened  the  Union  cause  in  that  state,  and  when  the  Republicans 
renominated  Lincoln  to  the  presidency  (1864)  they  recognized 
the  services  of  the  War  Democrats  by  putting  Johnson  on  the 
ticket  as  Vice  President.  When  the  assassination  of  the  President 
raised  Johnson  to  the  highest  office  in  the  nation,  he  entered  upon 
his  duties  with  the  declaration  :  "  The  American  people  must  be 
taught  to  know  and  understand  that  treason  is  a  crime."  "It 
must  not  be  regarded  as  a  mere  difference  of  political  opinion." 
Again  he  said,  "Treason  must  be  made  infamous  and  traitors 
must  be  impoverished." 

511.  The  "  freedmen  " ;  plans  for  reconstruction.  Two  political 
questions  of  prime  importance  pressed  for  settlement:  (i)  What 
should  be  done  to  aid  and  protect  the  " freedmen"?  (2)  What 
action  should  be  taken  respecting  the  restoration  or  reconstruction 
of  the  seceded  states  ? 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  government  was  confronted  with 
the  stupendous  problem  of  providing  for  several  millions  of 
negroes.  Tens  of  thousands  of  them  had  followed  the  Union 
armies  and  had  been  gathered  into  camps  at  different  points. 
These  poor  people  were  legally  free,  but  that  was  all.  They  were 
"  landless,  homeless,  helpless,"  and  there  was  danger  that  many 
of  them  would  sink  into  a  state  of.  permanent  pauperism.  One 
of  President  Lincoln's  last  acts  was  to  sign  a  bill  (March  3,  1865) 
creating  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.1  The  Bureau  was  to  con 
tinue  for  one  year ;  its  object  was  to  place  the  freedmen,  as  far 
as  practicable,  on  abandoned  or  confiscated  lands  at  the  South 
and  render  them  self- supporting.  General  O.  O.  Howard  was 
appointed  commissioner  and  was  invested,  he  says,  with  "  almost 
unlimited  authority." 

The  second  problem,  that  of  reconstruction,  was  even  more 
formidable  than  the  negro  question,  which  was  necessarily  closely 
bound  up  with  it. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  Nos.  44,  51. 


5 14          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1866 

The  Constitution  was  silent  in  regard  to  secession  and  civil  war, 
and  it  threw  no  light  on  the  delicate,  difficult,  and  dangerous  work 
of  restoring  or  reconstructing  the  Southern  States.  Three  ques 
tions  arose  :  (i)  What  was  the  condition  of  the  seceded  states, — 
were  they  still  members  of  the  Union,  as  a  dislocated  arm  is  still  a 
member  of  the  body,  —  or  had  secession  put  them  wholly  out  of  the 
Union  and  were  they  now  simply  conquered  territory?  (2)  Did 
the  power  to  restore  or  reconstruct  rest  with  the  President  or  with 
Congress?  (3)  What  action  should  be  taken  respecting  the 
negro?  Should  he  be  made  a  citizen  and  a  voter  or  simply  left 
free?  If  the  ballot  was  put  in  his  hands,  he  might  swamp  the 
white  vote  in  the  South  by  force  of  numbers ;  if  simply  left  free, 
his  presence  would  increase  the  basis  of  representation  and  so 
increase  the  power  of  the  South  in  Congress.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  he  could  not  protect  himself,  he  might  be  virtually 
reenslaved. 

President  Lincoln,  in  accordance  with  his  inaugural  address 
(§448),  took  the  position  that  the  Union  and  the  states  were 
alike  indestructible  (§§509,  5 12),  and  that  secession  had  simply 
thrown  certain  states  temporarily  out  of  gear  with  the  rest.  He 
believed  that  it  was  his  work  to  set  them  right  again.  His  plan 
was  essentially  that  of  restoration.  In  December,  1863,  he  issued 
a  proclamation  of  amnesty. 

By  it  he  granted  "  a  full  pardon  "  to  "  all  persons,"  except  the 
leaders  of  secession,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  "existing 
rebellion,"  provided  they  should  take  an  oath  to  support  the 
Constitution  and  all  acts  of  Congress  to  date.  He  furthermore 
declared  that  whenever  one  tenth  or  more  of  the  loyal  voters  of 
1860  in  the  seceded  states  should  reestablish  a  state  government 
in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  and  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
he  would  recognize  it  as  "  the  true  government  of  the  state." 

President  Lincoln  added,  however,  that  the  admission  of  such 
reconstructed  states  to  representation  did  not  rest  with  him  but 
with  Congress.  The  President  did  not  favor  negro  suffrage  and 
he  made  no  provision  for  it  in  his  plan  of  reconstruction.  But 


1865]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         515 

later  (1864),  he  suggested  to  the  governor  of  Louisiana  that  pos 
sibly  a  few  of  the  colored  people  in  that  state  might  be  permitted 
to  vote. 

The  Radical  Republicans  in  Congress  denounced  the  Presi 
dent's  policy  as  dangerous  to  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  and  the 
next  spring  (1864)  Henry  Winter  Davis  introduced  a  reconstruc 
tion  bill  which  put  the  whole  control  of  the  late  Confederate 
States  in  the  hands  of  Congress  ;  but,  like  the  President's  method, 
it  was  silent  in  regard  to  negro  suffrage.  President  Lincoln 
killed  the  bill  by  a  "  pocket  veto  "  (§  365),  mainly  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  too  rigid  in  its  character.  The  angry  Radicals,  under 
the  leadership  of  Senators  Davis  and  Wade,  issued  an  address 
"  to  the  supporters  of  the  government,"  in  which  they  charged 
Lincoln  with  deliberately  striking  "  a  blow  at  the  friends  of  the 
administration,  at  the  rights  of  humanity,  and  at  the  principles 
of  republican  government."  ] 

The  President  did  not  lose  his  temper,  but  in  the  last  words 
which  he  spoke  in  public  (April  n,  1865)  he  declared  his  adher 
ence  to  his  own  plan  of  restoration  or  reconstruction.  He 
earnestly  advocated  a  policy  of  conciliation  toward  the  seceded 
states,  saying,  "  We  shall  sooner  have  the  fowl  by  hatching  the 
egg  than  by  smashing  it." 

512.  How  Congress  regarded  President  Johnson's  plan  of  recon 
struction.  Johnson  declared  that  he  held  the  view  of  reconstruc 
tion  which  Lincoln  had  defended  (§511).  His  idea  of  liberty  for 
the  negro  was  that  it  gave  him  the  right  to  work  for  himself  but 
did  not  include  the  right  to  vote.  He  believed  that  this  is  a 
"  white  man's  government "  and  must  remain  such.  He  insisted 
that  the  question  of  negro  suffrage  rested  solely  with  the  people 
of  the  Southern  States. 

Congress  was  divided;  some  members  held  with  Senator 
Sumner  that  the  Southern  States  had  committed  political  suicide 
and  that  the  government  should  proceed  to  deal  with  them  as 
so  much  federal  territory.  In  the  House,  Thaddeus  Stevens  went 

1  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  129. 


516          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1865 

further  still  and  proposed  to  confiscate  the  "  estates  of  rebels" 
worth  more  than  $10,000,  to  give  forty  acres  of  land  to  each 
"freedman,"  and  to  use  the  remainder  in  paying  off  the  national 
war  debt.  He  wished  to  grant  the  negro  full  political  rights,  and 
at  the  same  time  deprive  the  southern  whites  of  their  former 
political  rights.1  But  the  great  majority  in  Congress  held  that 
the  states  still  existed  as  states,  and  that  the  Constitution,  though 
suspended,  was  still  in  force  in  that  section.  They  insisted,  how 
ever,  that  Congress,  and  Congress  only,  should  decide  on  the  read- 
mission  of  the  seceded  states  to  their  political  rights.  This  view 
of  the  States  and  the  Union  was  confirmed  (1868)  by  a  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  (Texas  vs.  White). 

Johnson  had  none  of  Lincoln's  tact;  he  stood  up  stubbornly 
in  defense  of  his  theory.  Congress  was  equally  determined;  the 
result  was  a  prolonged  battle  between  the  executive  and  the  legis 
lative  powers.  In  that  battle  Secretary  Seward  took  his  stand 
firmly  by  the  President.  Eventually  Seward's  influence  induced 
President  Johnson  to  adopt  a  more  conciliatory  attitude  toward 
the  South. 

513.  The  grand  review;  disbanding  the  army;  the  war  debt; 
condition  of  the  South.  The  struggle  between  the  Executive  and 
Congress  over  reconstruction  did  not  begin  at  once.  The  close 
of  the  war  called  for  a  grand  military  review  at  Washington. 
The  parade  of  even  a  part  of  the  Union  armies  occupied  two 
entire  days  (May  23,  24,  1865).  On  the  first  day  the  "Army  of 
the  Potomac,"  with  General  Meade  at  the  head,  marched  from 
the  national  capitol  down  Pennsylvania  Avenue  to  the  White 
House. 

The  following  day  General  Sherman  at  the  head  of  the  "  Army 
of  the  West "  passed  over  the  same  ground.  These  men  were  no 
"  holiday  troops,"  but  a  great  body  of  war-worn  veterans  "  who 
had  not  slept  under  a  roof  for  years."  They  bore  the  shot- torn 
banners  which  they  had  carried  on  a  hundred  hard-fought  fields. 
On  those  fields  they  had  left  dead  comrades  far  more  numerous 
1  See  Woodburn's  Political  Parties,  93. 


1865]          RECONSTRUCTION,   THE    NEW    NATION          517 

than  the  throngs  who  now  joined  with  them  in  celebrating  the 
final  victory  of  peace. 

The  muster  out  of  the  Union  forces,  of  nearly  a  million  in 
number,  had  already  begun.  It  continued  at  the  rate  of  about 
250,000  a  month,  until  all  but  a  comparatively  small  force  of  reg 
ular  troops  had  been  disbanded.  At  the  same  time  the  govern 
ment  began  to  pay  off  the  war  debt  (§  508),  and,  before  all  the 
soldiers  had  been  discharged,  the  net  debt,  which  was  then 
$2,758,000,000,  had  been  reduced  $30,000,000.  The  European 
press  predicted  that  men  who  had  so  long  been  accustomed  to  the 
use  of  arms  would  not  return  peacefully  to  their  homes ;  but  they 
went  back  as  quietly  as  they  came.  The  Confederates  did  the 
same ;  they,  like  the  Union  forces,  had  that  American  sense  of 
self-respect  which  forbade  disorder. 

But  the  "men  in  blue"  and  the  "men  in  gray"  returned  to 
widely  different  fields.  The  devastating  hand  of  war  had  hardly 
touched  the  North  in  a  material  sense.  No  invading  armies  had 
ravaged  the  loyal  states.  In  that  section,  throughout  the  terrible 
contest,  trade,  commerce,  agriculture,  and  manufacturing  flour 
ished  and  thousands  prospered  and  grew  rich. 

At  the  South  everything  was  different.  The  followers  of  Lee  and 
Johnston,  "  ragged,  half-starved,  heavy-hearted,"  went  back  to  find 
practically  everything  gone.  Their  money  was  worthless,  their 
states  bankrupt,  their  railways  and  manufactories  destroyed,  their 
houses  in  ruins,  their  barns  empty,  their  plantations  stripped, 
their  slaves  set  free. 

But  though  the  people  of  the  South  had  little  left  but  the  land 
and  their  hands  with  which  to  work  it,  yet  they  did  not  despair. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens  (§  445)  spoke  for  multitudes  when  he  said  : 
"  We  should  accept  the  issues  of  the  war  and  abide  by  them  in 
good  faith."  "  The  whole  United  States  is  now  our  country,  to  be 
cherished  and  defended  as  such  by  all  our  hearts  and  all  our 
arms."  The  speaker  claimed  "full  protection"  for  the  negroes, 
so  that  they  should  "  stand  equal  before  the  law  in  the  provision 
and  enjoyment  of  all  rights  of  person,  liberty,  and  property." 


518          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1865 

Lee  exhibited  the  same  loyal  purpose.  He  applied  to  the 
government  for  pardon  in  order  to  encourage  others  to  do  like 
wise.  When  Johnston  bade  farewell  to  his  men  he  urged  them 
to  devote  all  their  energies  "  to  discharge  the  duties  of  good  and 
peaceful  citizens."  Finally,  General  Longstreet  wrote  (1902) 
to  General  Sickles,  his  former  antagonist,  respecting  the  Confed 
erate  defeat  on  the  hard-fought  field  of  Gettysburg  (§  483),  say 
ing  :  "  It  was  the  sorest  and  saddest  reflection  of  my  life  for 
many  years ;  but  to-day  I  can  say  with  sincerest  emotion  that  it 
was  and  is  the  best  that  could  have  come  to  us  all,  North  and 
South,  and  I  hope  that  the  nation,  reunited,  may  always  enjoy 
the  honor  and  glory  brought  to  it  by  that  grand  work."  l  Out  of 
this  spirit  and  the  life  and  labor  it  has  inspired  a  "  new  South  " 
has  arisen,  progressive,  prosperous,  patriotic.  He*, 

514.  Proclamations  respecting  the  South;  ratification  of  the 
thirteenth  amendment.  Before  Congress  met,  the  President  issued 
a  proclamation  (1865)  opening  the  southern  ports  east  of  the 
Mississippi  and  removing  all  restrictions  on  trade  and  inter 
course.  He  next  offered  free  and  full  pardon  to  all  save  the 
leaders  in  the  "  late  rebellion,"  2  on  the  same  general  conditions 
as  those  offered  by  Lincoln  (§  511),  and  he  soon  afterward  de 
clared  the  insurrection  over  in  Tennessee.  The  following  spring 
(1866)  he  made  the  same  declaration  respecting  all  the  Southern 
States  except  Texas.  A  few  months  later,  he  proclaimed  that 
peace  and  civil  authority  existed  "  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
United  States  of  America." 

When  Congress  met  (1865)  it  omitted  the  names  of  the  late 
Confederate  States  from  its  roll  call  and  appointed  a  committee 
to  inquire  into  their  condition.  The  announcement  was  made 
by  the  Secretary  of  State  that  the  thirteenth  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  (§  476)  had  been  duly  ratified  (Appendix,  page  xvii). 
It  was  the  first  such  amendment,  out  of  the  hundreds  that  had 
been  proposed,  which  had  been  adopted  in  more  than  sixty  years. 

1  See  The  Army  and  Navy  Journal,  October  4,  1902,  106. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  46. 


1865-1866]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION       519 

It  clinched  and  extended  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  so  that 
it  covered  all  the  states  (§  476)  and  made  the  re  establishment  of 
slavery  impossible. 

515.  Veto  of  the  second  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill  and  of  the  Civil 
Rights  Bill ;  the  fourteenth  amendment.  The  original  Freedmen's 
Bureau  Act  was  about  to  expire  by  limitation  (§  511).  Congress 
therefore  (February  6,  1866)  passed  a  bill  renewing  that  act.  It 
extended  the  powers  of  the  commissioner  and  provided  military 
protection  for  the  "  freedmen."  President  Johnson  vetoed  it. 
His  objections  were  :  (i)  that  the  bill  was  a  war  measure  which 
was  uncalled  for  in  time  of  peace ;  (2)  that  it  took  land  from 
former  owners  without  due  process  of  law  and  gave  it  to  the 
destitute  "  freedmen"  and  "  refugees";1  (3)  finally,  he  took  the 
ground  that  the  bill  was  unconstitutional  because  it  had  been 
passed  by  a  Congress  from  which  "  all  the  people  of  eleven  states  " 
were  excluded. 

The  veto  killed  the  proposed  act,  but  later  (July  16,  1866) 
Congress  passed  a  similar  bill  over  a  second  veto.'2 

Meanwhile  the  President  bitterly  denounced  Congress  in  a 
public  speech,  and  declared  that  two  prominent  members,  whom 
he  called  by  name,  were  laboring  to  destroy  the  government. 
Congress  retaliated  by  passing  the  Civil  Rights  Bill 8  (reenacted  in 
1 8  7  5 ,  but  declared  unconstitutional 4) .  This  bill  gave  the  negro  the 
full  benefit  of  all  laws  for  the  security  of  person  and  property  which 
are  enjoyed  by  white  citizens,  and  it  therefore  made  the  recently 
liberated  slave  the  equal  of  his  former  master  in  the  courts. 

The  President  vetoed  the  bill  mainly  on  the  ground  that  since 
many  of  the  Southern  States  were  still  unrepresented  in  Congress, 
that  body  had  no  constitutional  right  to  declare  several  millions 
of  ignorant  negroes  citizens  of  the  Republic.  This  stirred  the 
temper  of  Congress,  and  both  Houses  united  in  promptly  passing 

1  The  white  men  in  the  South  who  stood  by  the  Union  and  who  fled  for  protection 
to  the  Union  armies  were  called  "  refugees  "  ;  many  of  them  had  lost  everything. 

2  See  Mason's  Veto  Power,  on  Johnson's  vetoes,  46,  151. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  Nos.  50  and  99. 

*  See  U.S.  Supreme  Court  decision  in  the  Civil  Rights  Cases,  1883. 


520          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1866 

the  bill  over  the  veto.  From  this  time  the  President  and  the 
majority  in  Congress  were  openly  at  war.  Johnson  broke  more 
completely  with  the  Republicans  who  had  elected  him  than  even 
Tyler  did  (§  378)  with  the  Whigs  a  quarter  of  a  century  earlier. 

In  June  (1866)  Congress  enacted,  by  joint  resolution,  the  four 
teenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (Appendix,  page  xviii). 
This  amendment  did  four  things  :  ( i )  it  confirmed  the  Civil 
Rights  Act;  (2)  it  reduced  the  basis  of  representation  of  any 
state  which  excluded  the  negro  from  the  polls;  (3)  it  declared 
that  no  prominent  person  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  rebellion 
should  be  eligible  to  election  to  Congress,  should  be  a  presidential 
elector,  or  should  hold  any  civil  or  military  office  under  the  United 
States,  or  under  any  state,  unless  Congress  removed  such  disability ; 
(4)  it  declared  that  the  validity  of  the  Union  war  debt  must  not 
be  questioned,  and  that  neither  the  United  States  nor  any  state 
should  pay  any  portion  of  the  Confederate  debt  or  any  claim  for 
the  loss  or  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  The  President  protested 
against  submitting  this  amendment  to  the  country  for  ratification 
until  all  the  Southern  States  had  been  readmitted  to  Congress. 

516.  Contest  between  the  President  and  Congress  ;  readmission 
of  Tennessee  ;  negro  suffrage  in  the  District  of  Columbia;  "  swing 
ing  round  the  circle."  In  the  long  contest  which  ensued  between 
the  President  and  Congress  each  resolved  to  defeat  and  humili 
ate  the  other.  Johnson  henceforth  regularly  vetoed  every  bill 
—  eleven  in  all  —  which  favored  the  Republican  reconstruction 
policy ;  Congress,  on  the  other  hand,  just  as  regularly  "  vetoed 
his  veto." 

Tennessee  had  adopted  a  state  constitution  which  abolished 
slavery  and  all  ordinances  and  laws  of  secession,  repudiated  the 
Confederate  debt,  and  ratified  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
amendments  to  the  Federal  Constitution.  Tennessee  was  there 
fore  readmitted  (July  24,  I866).1  It  was  the  first  seceded  state 
which  was  fully  restored  to  all  its  former  rights  and  privileges  as  a 
member  of  the  Union. 

i  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  52. 


1866-1867]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION       521 

The  next  winter  (1866-1867)  the  remaining  seceded  states 
rejected  the  fourteenth  amendment,  and  South  Carolina  enacted 
laws  which  seemed  intended  to  reduce  the  freedmen  to  a  state  of 
subjection  not  far  removed  torn  slavery  itself.  Toward  the  close 
of  1866  Congress  passed  an  act  over  the  President's  veto  which 
granted  suffrage  to  the  negroes  of  the  District  of  Columbia.1 
They  were  the  first  freed  slaves  who  obtained  the  ballot  directly 
from  the  hands  of  the  nation.2 

During  the  occurrence  of  these  events  the  President  had  been 
making  a  northern  tour,  or  "swinging  round  the  circle."  He 
spoke  in  a  number  of  the  principal  cities  and  made  bitter  attacks 
on  Congress.  He  declared  that  it  was  not  a  true  Congress  since 
it  did  not  represent  all  the  states,  that  it  was  "  trying  to  break 
up  the  government,"  and  that  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  (§  515) 
was  simply  a  swindle  and  a  disguised  form  of  slavery. 

517.  New  proclamation  of  amnesty ;  action  of  Congress ;  admis 
sion  of  Nebraska;  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act;  the  Military  Recon 
struction  Act ;  readmission  of  states.  In  the  autumn  of  1867  the 
President  issued  a  proclamation  of  general  amnesty  (§  514)  by 
which  pardon  was  extended  to  a  large  class  hitherto  excepted. 

When  the  new  Congress  met  (1867)  it  adopted  a  series  of  retali 
atory  measures:  (i)  it  made  provision  for  an  almost  continuous 
session ;  (2)  it  took  from  the  President  the  power  of  issuing  gen 
eral  proclamations  of  pardon  ;  (3)  it  virtually  deprived  him  of  the 
command  of  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States  by  requiring 
that  all  orders  respecting  them  should  pass  through  General 
Grant ;  (4)  it  set  aside  his  power  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus;  (5)  it  admitted  the  state  of  Nebraska  (1867)  —  the 
thirty-seventh  —  over  the  President's  veto,  and  granted  negro 
suffrage  there;  (6)  it  passed  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act3  over 
the  executive  veto.  Secretary  Stanton  denounced  this  act  at  the 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  54. 

2  The  form  of  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  has  since  been  changed, 
and  none  of  the  inhabitants  have  the  right  of  suffrage. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  Nos.  57,  80.      This  act  was  modified  in  1869 
and  repealed  in  1887. 


522  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1867 

time,  but  he  later  (§  518)  took  advantage  of  it.  The  object  of 
this  measure  was  to  prevent  the  President  from  carrying  out  his 
threat  of  removing  public  officers  who  sided  with  Congress  and 
opposed  his  reconstruction  policy.  The  act  forbade  his  dismiss 
ing  such  officers,  even  when  they  were  members  of  his  Cabinet, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Senate. 

Congress  next  proceeded  to  deal  with  the  seceded  states  by 
passing  the  Military  Reconstruction  Bill  (March  2,  1867).  This 
bill  provided  that  (i)  the  ten  "rebel  states"  should  be  divided 
into  five  military  districts,  each  to  be  placed  under  the  command 
of  a  general  of  the  army  appointed  by  the  President ;  (2)  under 
the  supervision  of  these  military  authorities  each  state  was  to  hold 
a  convention  to  frame  a  state  constitution ;  (3)  negroes  were  to 
have  the  right  to  vote  for  delegates  to  this  convention  and  to 
act  as  delegates  in  it,  but  all  prominent  ex- Confederates  were 
excluded ;  (4)  if  the  constitution  so  framed  was  accepted  by  the 
duly  qualified  voters  of  the  state  and  approved  by  Congress,  the 
state  might  then  be  readmitted  to  representation,  provided  its 
Legislature  had  ratified  the  fourteenth  amendment,  which  gave 
the  "freedmen"  full  civil  rights,  repudiated  the  Confederate 
debt,  acknowledged  the  validity  of  the  Union  war  debt,  and 
renounced  all  claim  for  emancipation  of  slaves  (§515).  This 
bill  set  aside  the  provisional  governments  which  President  Johnson 
had  created  and  put  the  whole  work  of  reconstruction  in  the  hands 
of  Congress.1 

The  President  vetoed  the  bill  on  the  ground  that  its  object  was 
to  coerce  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  by  military  force  into 
adopting  measures  to  which  they  were  known  to  be  opposed,  and 
that  such  a  measure  was  "  in  palpable  conflict  with  the  plainest 
provisions  of  the  Constitution."  Congress  at  once  passed  the  bill 
over  the  veto.  The  United  States  Supreme  Court  (Texas  vs. 
White,  1868)  virtually  confirmed  the  constitutionality  of  this  act, 
though  it  also  declared  in  this  case,  and  later  (Slaughter-House 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  Nos.  56,  62,  64,  67  ;  Johnston's  American 
Orations,  IV,  129,  141,  149,  168,  181. 


1867]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         523 

Cases,  1872),  that  the  power  of  the  Southern  States  as  states 
remained  in  all  respects  unimpaired. 

Under  this  stringent  Reconstruction  Act  the  six  states  of  Ala 
bama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Louisiana,  North  Carolina,  and  South 
Carolina  were  readmitted  in  1868.  Georgia  ratified  the  fourteenth 
amendment  in  1868,  but  was  not  fully  and  finally  readmitted  until 
1870.  Mississippi,  Texas,  and  Virginia  refused  to  accede  to  the 
conditions  laid  down  by  Congress  and  held  out  until  1870,  when 
they  accepted  them  and  were  readmitted.1 

518.  Johnson  removes  Stanton;  impeachment  of  the  President. 
The  President,  in  disregard  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  (§  517), 
which  he  considered  unconstitutional,  resolved  to  remove  Secretary 
Stanton,  with  whom  he  had  long  been  at  swords'  points.  He 
accordingly  (August  5,  1867)  sent  the  Secretary  this  brief  note. 
"  Sir :  Public  considerations  of  a  high  character  constrain  me  to 
say  that  your  resignation  as  Secretary  of  War  will  be  accepted." 
Mr.  Stanton,  in  his  almost  equally  brief  reply,  said :  "  Sir :  .  .  . 
I  have  the  honor  to  say  that  public  considerations  of  a  high  char 
acter,  which  alone  have  induced  me  to  continue  at  the  head  of 
this  department,  constrain  me  not  to  resign  the  office  of  Secretary 
of  War  before  the  next  meeting  of  Congress."  Senator  Sumner 
telegraphed  to  Stanton  this  one  emphatic  word,  "  Stick  !  "  and 
"stick"  he  did. 

The  President  thereupon  suspended  the  Secretary  from  office, 
but  Congress  promptly  reinstated  him.  He  then  ordered  the 
Secretary  to  resign.  Instead  of  doing  so,  Mr.  Stanton  sent  the 
order  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Thereupon  that  body 
resolved  by  a  vote  of  128  to  47  to  impeach  the  President  for 
"high  crimes  and  misdemeanors."  The  offenses  with  which  he 
was  charged  were  :  (i)  the  removal  of  Secretary  Stanton  in  direct 
violation  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  (§517);  (2)  commanding 
General  Emory  not  to  obey  the  law  (§  517)  requiring  all  mili 
tary  orders  to  be  issued  through  General  Grant ;  (3)  attempting 

1  Congress  required  that  they  should  ratify  the  fifteenth  amendment,  passed  sub 
sequently  to  the  readmission  of  the  first  six  reconstructed  states. 


524  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1868 

to  excite  the  resentment  of  the  people  against  Congress  by 
declaring  that  it  was  not  a  true  Congress  (§  516)  and  that  the 
President  was  not  bound  by.  its  laws.1 

The  impeachment  trial  began  the  last  of  March  (1868)  before 
fifty-four  senators,  representing  twenty-seven  states  ;  Chief  Justice 
Chase  presided.  It  ended  May  26.  Thirty-five  senators  voted 
"guilty"  and  nineteen  "not  guilty."  A  two-thirds  vote  was 
required  to  secure  conviction ;  the  President,  therefore,  escaped 
removal  by  the  narrow  margin  of  a  single  vote. 

519.  The  presidential  election  (1868).  The  campaign  was  fought 
on  two  questions  :  (i)  Should  the  presidential  or  the  congressional 
plan  of  reconstruction  be  adopted?  (2)  Should  the  national  debt, 
in  cases  not  specified  on  the  face  of  the  bonds,2  be  paid  in  coin 
or  in  "  greenbacks  "? 

The  Republicans  adopted  a  platform  which  heartily  indorsed 
the  reconstruction  policy  of  Congress  ;  at  the  same  time  they  com 
mended  the  "  spirit  of  magnanimity  and  forbearance  "  shown  by 
the  recent  secessionists,  and  asked  for  the  removal  of  the  dis 
qualifications  and  restrictions  imposed  upon  the  "late  rebels"  as 
far  as  might  be  "  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  loyal  people." 

They  resolved  that  the  national  honor  required  the  payment  of 
the  national  debt  "  not  only  according  to  the  letter  but  the  spirit 
of  the  laws  under  which  it  was  contracted." 

They  nominated  General  Grant  for  President,  with  Schuyler 
Colfax  of  Indiana  for  Vice  President. 

The  Democrats  demanded  the  "  immediate  restoration  of  all 
the  states  ";  they  charged  Congress  with  subjecting  ten  states,  in 
time  of  peace,  to  "  military  despotism  and  negro  supremacy." 
They  condemned  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  (§  517)  and  the  Re 
construction  Acts  (§517)  as  "unconstitutional,  revolutionary,  and 
void."  They  demanded  complete  "amnesty  for  all  past  political 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  66. 

2  The  Republicans  held  that  the  bonds  should  be  paid  in  coin  unless  paper  had 
been  agreed  upon  ;  the  Democrats,  that  they  should  be  paid  in  paper  unless  coin  had 
been  agreed  upon. 


The  rote  of  ike  Seuate,  sitting  as  a  Hi  i.;Ii  Court  of  Impeach- 
nieiit  for  the  trial  of 


VOTE   ON   THE    IMPEACHMENT  TRIAL 


1868]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         525 

offenses,"  "  the  regulation  of  the  elective  franchise  in  the  states 
by  their  citizens,"  and  the  taxation  of  "  government  bonds." 

They  resolved  that,  except  in  cases  where  coin  was  stipulated 
in  the  bond,  the  obligations  of  the  government  "  ought  in  right 
and  in  justice  to  be  paid  in  the  lawful  money  of  the  United  States," 
in  other  words,  in  "  greenbacks  "  (§  455).1 

They  nominated  Governor  Horatio  Seymour  of  New  York  for 
President,  with  General  F.  P.  Blair  of  Missouri  for  Vice  Presi 
dent.  Grant  and  Colfax  were  elected  by  214  electoral  votes 
against  80  cast  for  Seymour.  The  popular  vote  stood  3,012,833 
for  Grant  to  2,703,249  for  Seymour. 

The  states  of  Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas  (§5 17)  were 
excluded  from  taking  part  in  the  election. 

520.  Proclamation  of  general  amnesty  ;  the  Atlantic  telegraph; 
purchase  of  Alaska;  China;  Mexico;  the  fifteenth  amendment. 
Notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  Congress  respecting  proclama 
tions  of  pardon  (§  517),  the  President  issued  on  Christmas  Day 
(1868)  a  final  proclamation  of  amnesty  by  which  he  granted  a 
full  and  unconditional  pardon  "  to  every  person  who  directly  or 
indirectly  participated  in  the  late  insurrection  or  rebellion."  2 

In  a  wholly  different  direction  Cyrus  W.  Field  of  New  York 
had  accomplished  a  remarkable  work  destined  to  have  a  lasting* 
influence  on  both  America  and  Europe.  About  ten  years  after 
Morse  opened  the  first  line  of  telegraph  in  the  world  (§  386)  Mr. 
Field  organized  a  company  to  establish  a  line  between  England 
and  the  United  States.  In  1858  a  cable  was  laid  and  for  a  few 
weeks  messages  were  sent  over  it ;  then  it  ceased  to  act.  A  large 
amount  of  money  had  been  sunk  in  the  enterprise,  but  the  origi 
nator  of  it  at  once  began  the  work  anew  and  millions  more  were 
spent.  Finally,  after  thirteen  years  of  labor  and  after  crossing 
the  ocean  more  than  forty  times,  Mr.  Field  succeeded  (July  27, 
1866)  in  laying  a  permanent  Atlantic  telegraph  cable,  which,  as 
John  Bright  said,  "  moored  the  New  World  alongside  the  Old." 

-  See  McKee's  National  Conventions,  132-139. 
2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  75. 


526        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1866-1868 

From  a  political,  diplomatic,  and  commercial  point  of  view 
the  success  of  the  cable  was  of  great  significance.  It  brought 
the  most  highly  civilized  nations  of  the  globe  into  electric  touch 
with  each  other. 

Such  events  change  the  whole  current  of  history.  When  at  the 
close  of  the  War  of  1812  the  United  States  commissioners  signed 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  it  took  a  fast-sailing  sloop  seven  weeks  to 
bring  the  intelligence  to  our  shores  ;  when,  in  the  next  generation, 
the  Indian  mutiny  broke  out  we  did  not  hear  of  it  for  a  fortnight, 
although  the  news  was  sent  forthwith  by  a  Cunard  steamer ;  but 
when  the  Franco-Prussian  War  began  the  Atlantic  cable  flashed 
the  news  to  us  a  few  minutes  after  the  first  gun  was  fired. 

To-day  London  and  New  York  are  such  near  neighbors  that 
a  rise  or  fall  in  the  English  stock  market  or  the  passage  of  an 
important  bill  in  Parliament  is  published  in  our  papers  as  soon, 
or,  it  may  be,  even  sooner  than  it  is  in  London  itself. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  following  year  (1867)  the  United  States 
purchased  Russian  America  for  $7,200,000  in  gold.1  The  terri 
tory  received  the  Indian  name  of  Alaska,  or  "  Great  Country." 
During  the  Civil  War,  when  Confederate  cruisers  were  destroying 
Union  vessels  in  the  North  Pacific,  the  government  felt  the  need 
"of  a  foothold  on  the  coast  in  that  vicinity.  The  annexation  of 
Alaska  gave  more  than  half  a  million  square  miles  of  territory  to 
the  United  States  and  secured  to  us  a  country  rich  in  fish  and 
furs,  timber  and  mineral  wealth.  Including  the  returns  from  the 
gold  mines,  the  total  products  to  the  present  time  have  been 
over  $150,000,000.  The  purchase  was  ridiculed  as  "  Se ward's 
folly,"-— "a  waste  of  money  on  rocks  and  ice,  fit  only  for  a 
polar-bear  garden";  but,  as  we  have  seen,  it  has  since  repaid 
its  cost  more  than  twenty  fold. 

The    next  year  (1868)    the    Burlingame    Treaty   with    China 

(§  430)  was  ratified  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  applied  to 

the  French  occupation  of  Mexico.     During  the  Civil  War,  Louis 

Napoleon  had  sent  a  French  army  to  Mexico  to  overthrow  the 

i  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  63. 


* 


; 


r  fc.r  T«*««^-ySv- 

&v ?  V     *,    V 


POSSESSIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ON  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  CONTINENT 
FROM  THE  TIME  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY 

(See,  too,  the  map  of  the  world,  facing  page  590) 

527 


528          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 

Republic  and  place  the  Austrian  prince,  Maximilian,  on  the 
throne.  President  Johnson  notified  Napoleon  that  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  (§  331)  must  be  respected  and  sent  General  Sheridan 
with  a  strong  force  to  the  Mexican  frontier.  This  bayonet- 
pointed  hint  was  sufficient ;  Napoleon  withdrew  his  forces  and 
left  Maximilian  to  his  fate.  • 

The  fifteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  whereby  the 
negro  would  receive  the  right  to  vote  (Appendix,  page  xviii),  was 
ratified  in  1869.  But  it  is  now  practically  inoperative  (§  571). 

521.  Summary.  Politically,  the  entire  administration  of  Presi 
dent  Johnson  was  occupied  with  the  readmission  of  the  Southern 
States  and  with  legislation  for  the  "  freedmen."  The  President 
urged  the  immediate  restoration  of  the  late  Confederate  States, 
but  Congress  insisted  on  reorganization  according  to  its  own 
will.  The  conflict  between  the  President  and  Congress  led  to 
the  passage  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  Civil  Rights,  Tenure  of 
Office,  and  Military  Reconstruction  Acts  over  the  executive  veto. 

The  refusal  of  the  President  to  obey  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act 
resulted  in  an  impeachment  trial  in  which  he  was  acquitted. 

Six  Southern  States  were  reconstructed  and  readmitted  during 
Johnson's  administration,  and  the  entrance  of  Nebraska  raised 
the  whole  number  in  the  Union  to  thirty-seven. 

We  note,  too,  the  successful  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable,  the 
Burlingame  Treaty  with  China,  the  purchase  of  Alaska,  the  with 
drawal  of  the  French  from  Mexico,  the  ratification  of  the  thir 
teenth  and  fourteenth  amendments,  and  the  passage  by  Congress 
of  the  fifteenth. 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT  (REPUBLICAN),  Two  TERMS  (1869-1877) 

522.  Grant's  inaugural  address ;  completion  of  the  Pacific  rail 
way.  In  his  inaugural  address  General  Grant  (§  519)  laid  especial 
emphasis  on  the  necessity  of  extending  suffrage  to  the  "  freedmen  " 
and  on  the  payment  of  the  war  debt  in  coin.  "To  protect  the 


RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW  NATION       529 

national  honor,"  said  he,  "  every  dollar  of  government  indebted 
ness  should  be  paid  in  gold,  unless  otherwise  expressly  stipulated 
in  the  contract.  Let  it  be  understood  that  no  repudiator  of  one 
farthing  of  our  public  debt  will  be  trusted  in  public  place,  and  it 
will  go  far  toward  strengthening  a  credit  which  ought  to  be  the  best 
in  the  world."  In  response  Congress  passed  the  Act  to  strengthen 
the  Public  Credit  (March  18,  1869)  (§  535).1 

In  conclusion  the  President  expressed  the  hope  that  the  rati 
fication  of  the  fifteenth  amendment  (§520)  might  soon  place 
the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  the  negro. 

A  little  more  than  two  months  later,  the  last  spike  was  driven 
(May  10,  1869)  which  completed  the  building  of  the  first  rail 
way  to  the  Pacific.  This  great  undertaking  was  brought  to  the 
attention  of  Congress  in  1846  by  Asa  Whitney,  a  New  York 
merchant  who  was  engaged  in  the  China  trade. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  renewed  the  interest  in  the 
project.  Between  the  Western  States,  which  lay  just  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  Pacific  Coast,  there  stretched  a  vast  wilder 
ness  broken  only  by  the  Mormon  settlement  at  Salt  Lake  (§  372). 
The  people  felt  that  regular  communication  must  be  established 
across  that  wilderness.  Whitney  induced  Congress  to  make  a  sur 
vey,  and  the  discovery  of  precious  metals  in  Colorado,  together 
with  the  settlement  of  Denver,  stimulated  the  work  still  more. 
A  pony  express  between  Leavenworth  and  Denver  and  Denver 
and  Sacramento  for  San  Francisco  was  put  on  in  1860.  This  was 
followed,  two  years  later,  by  a  line  of  stagecoaches  driven  by  such 
men  as  the  famous  "  Buffalo  Bill,"  — men  who  took  their  lives  in 
their  hands  and  who  had  to  hold  themselves  ready  at  any  moment 
to  fight  Indians  and  stage  robbers.  In  1860  both  of  the  great 
political  parties  declared  that  a  transcontinental  railway  was  "  im 
peratively  demanded  by  the  interests  of  the  whole  country."  The 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  soon  gave  unmistakable  emphasis  to 
the  demand  for  joining  the  East  and  the  far  West  in  closer 
political,  commercial,  and  military  union. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  78. 


530          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

While  the  war  was  in  progress  the  government  offered  to  give 
nearly  13,000  acres  of  land  and  a  loan  of  over  $28,000  for  every 
mile  of  the  proposed  road  which  any  company  would  build  and 
equip  with  a  line  of  telegraph.  Two  companies  accepted  the 
offer.  The  Central  Pacific  Company  began  work  (1865)  at  the 
San  Francisco  end  and  the  Union  Pacific  at  Omaha.  While 
the  Central  Pacific  was  climbing  the  Sierras  on  its  way  eastward 
the  Union  Pacific  was  rapidly  pushing  its  way  westward  across  the 
plains  of  Nebraska.  Five  years  later,  the  engines  met  at  Prom 
ontory  Point,  near  Ogden,  Utah.  There  the  last  rail  was  laid. 


THE  FIRST  PACIFIC  RAILWAY 

The  next  day  (May  u,  1869)  a  through  train  from  New  York,  the 
first  that  ever  crossed  from  ocean  to  ocean,  passed  Promontory 
Point  on  its  way  to  San  Francisco.  That  meant  that  steam  and 
electricity  had  conquered  3000  miles  of  space,  and  that  the 
Republic  at  last  held  the  whole  breadth  of  the  continent  with  an 
iron  grasp. 

The  Pacific  Railway  put  the  Eastern  States  in  quick  communi 
cation  with  China,  Japan,  and  the  Indies.  Our  cotton  goods  could 
be  delivered  in  Asia  in  thirty  days,  and  in  the  same  time  teas, 
silks,  and  spices  could  be  unloaded  in  New  York. 


1869-1870]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION       531 

Politically,  the  road  had  a  most  important  influence.  Before 
it  was  built  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  coasts  seemed  so  far 
distant  from  each  other  that  many  believed  it  doubtful  if  they 
could  be  held  together  under  the  same  central  government. 
But  the  completion  of  the  road  changed  all  that,  for  a  member 
of  Congress  from  California  could  leave  the  Golden  Gate  with 
the  certainty  that  in  less  than  a  week  he  would  be  in  his  seat 
in  the  national  capitol. 

The  road  was  of  equal  importance  from  a  military  point  of  view. 
In  case  of  need  the  far  West  could  call  on  the  East  for  help,  and 
a  corps  of  United  States  troops  could  be  speedily  transported 
from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  those  of  the  Pacific. 

Nor  was  this  all.  In  piercing  the  heart  of  the  continent  the 
railway  opened  up  a  great  central  region  for  settlement.  Between 
the  tier  of  states  bordering  on  the  west  banks  of  the  Mississippi 
and  the  states  of  the  Pacific  slope  there  was,  as  has  been  said,  a 
vast  half-explored  wilderness,  which,  with  few  exceptions,  the 
Indian  and  the  buffalo  shared  between  them.  Here  was  a  broad 
field  inviting  immigration.  General  Grant  says  that  when  the 
Civil  War  came  to  an  end  great  numbers  of  young  men  who  had 
fought  in  the  Union  armies  went  West.  The  construction  of  the 
first  Pacific  railway  was  tainted  with  the  Credit  Mobilier  scandal,1 
but  —  together  with  the  four  other  lines  which  followed  —  it  power 
fully  stimulated  the  western  emigration  movement,  and  aided  in 
planting  bodies  of  settlers  who  became  the  connecting  link  in  pop 
ulation  between  the  states  of  the  Atlantic  and  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

523.  Reconstruction  completed ;  the  negro  in  Congress.  When 
Congress  met  it  completed  (1869-1870)  the  work  of  recon 
struction  by  removing  the  greater  part  of  the  remainder  of  the 

1  In  1864  the  Credit  Mobilier,  a  Pennsylvania  company  deriving  its  name  from 
a  French  financial  company  formed  to  promote  industrial  enterprises,  undertook 
the  construction  of  a  part  of  the  Pacific  railway.  In  the  presidential  campaign 
of  1872  the  Vice  President,  the  Vice  President  elect,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
the  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  a  number  of  members  of  Congress  were  charged 
with  selling  their  political  influence  in  favor  of  the  road  in  return  for  stocks  furnished 
them  by  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company.  Congress  ordered  the  charge  to  be  investi 
gated  ;  two  representatives  were  censured  and  there  the  matter  dropped. 


532          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1870 

legal  and  political  disabilities  which  had  been  imposed  upon  the 
southern  whites;  it  then  readmitted  the  remaining  four  (§  517) 
seceded  states. 

The  Secretary  of  State  (1870)  announced  that  the  fifteenth 
amendment  (§  520)  had  been  duly  ratified  and  was  henceforth  in 
force.  This  finished  the  constitutional  work  of  reconstruction. 
The  first  of  those  amendments  (§  476)  declared  the  negro  free 
forever,  the  second  made  him  a  citizen,  the  third  made  him  a 
voter.  He  now  had  every  right,  every  privilege,  every  opportunity 
which  the  law  gives  the  white  man  ;  in  the  courts  and  at  the  ballot 
box  he  stood  on  an  equality  with  his  old  master ;  henceforth  if  he 
failed  to  advance,  the  fault  would  be  chiefly  his  own. 

The  same  year  that  the  fifteenth  amendment  was  ratified  (1870) 
the  "  freedmen  "  entered  Congress.  H.  B.  Revels,  a  negro  from 
Mississippi,  took  the  seat  in  the  Senate  which  Jefferson  Davis  had 
vacated  less  than  ten  years  before.  South  Carolina  sent  Joseph 
H.  Rainey,  the  son  of  slave  parents  who  had  worked  in  the  rice 
swamps,  as  a  representative  from  that  state.  From  that  time,  for 
a  period  of  nearly  twenty  years,  every  Congress  had  from  four  to 
six  negro  members. 

524.  The  "Carpetbaggers."  At  the  close  of  the  war  many 
northern  men  went  South.  Some  of  them  settled  there  as  cotton 
planters  and  did  everything  in  their  power  to  aid  the  work  of 
reconstruction  in  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned.  Others 
went  simply  to  get  political  office  and  plunder.  It  was  but 
natural  that  the  southern  people  should  regard  the  newcomers 
with  suspicion.  They  lumped  good  and  bad  together  under  the 
general  name  of  "Carpetbaggers,"  —  a  synonym  for  greedy  and 
unscrupulous  adventurers.  The  name  sometimes  did  great  injus 
tice  to  worthy  men;  but  in  a  majority  of  cases  it  truthfully 
described  those  to  whom  it  was  applied. 

But  however  much  the  former  slaveholding  aristocracy  hated 
the  "Carpetbagger,"  they  hated  the  "Scalawag"  still  more. 
The  "Scalawag"  was  a  renegade  southerner  who  joined  hands 
with  the  political  "  Carpetbagger  "  in  the  scramble  for  spoils,  By 


1870]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         533 

themselves  they  probably  could  not  have  done  much  harm;  but 
using  the  negro  voter  as  their  tool,  they  did  an  enormous  amount 
of  mischief  from  which  the  South  has  not  yet  fully  recovered. 

Congress  gave  the  "  freedmen  "  (§  511)  the  ballot  in  order  that 
they  might  protect  themselves.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
War  there  were  but  four  states  in  the  Union,  out  of  the  thirty-four, 
where  the  black  man  could  vote  ;  these  were  at  the  North.  In  the 
South  the  number  of  colored  people,  taken  as  a  whole,  was  only  one 
fifth  less  than  that  of  the  whites,  and  in  three  states  it  exceeded 
it.  The  former  slave  fully  realized  his  power.  "Now,"  said  he, 
"  the  bottom  rail  is  on  the  top,  and  we're  going  to  keep  it  there." 

For  a  number  of  years  the  "Carpetbagger,"  the  "Scalawag," 
and  the  negro  ruled  supreme  at  the  polls  and  in  the  legislatures. 
They  pillaged  the  prostrate  states  which  lay  helpless  at  their  feet 
until  they  had  rolled  up  debts  aggregating  nearly  $3oo,ooo,ooo.1 
All  things  considered,  perhaps  South  Carolina  suffered  most  from 
this  "carnival  of  crime  and  corruption";  but  eight  other  states 
were  in  the  same  pitiful  case.  Judge  Black  of  Louisiana  felt 
moved  to  declare  that  a  "  conflagration  sweeping  over  all  the  state 
from  one  end  to  the  other  and  destroying  every  building  and 
every  article  of  personal  property  would  have  been  a  visitation  of 
mercy  in  comparison  with  the  curse  of  such  a  government." 

525.  The  " Ku-Klux Klan " ;  the  "Force  Act " ;  end  of  the  "Car 
petbag  "  government.  This  state  of  things  roused  the  spirit  of 
retaliation  and  gave  rise  to  the  "  Ku-Klux  Klan."  It  was  a  secret 
oath-bound  organization  formed  especially  to  intimidate  the  negro 
and  prevent  his  voting  or  getting  office.  At  first  the  "  Ku-Klux  " 
confined  themselves  mainly  to  threats,  but  later  they  resorted  to 
violence.  Bands  of  masked  men  broke  into  negro  cabins  at  mid 
night,  dragged  the  occupants  from  their  beds,  and  flogged  them 
without  mercy.  In  some  cases  the  "  Ku-Klux  "  pushed  matters 

1  The  debts  imposed  on  the  reconstructed  states  were  as  follows  :  Alabama,  $52,- 
761,917;  Arkansas,  $19,398,000;  Florida,  $15,797,587;  Georgia,  $42,560,500;  Lou 
isiana,  $40,021,734;  North  Carolina,  $34,887,464;  South  Carolina,  $22,480,516; 
Texas,  $14,930,000  ;  Virginia,  $47,090,866. 


534       THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [isn-isre 

to  the  farthest  extreme  and  deliberately  maimed  or  murdered  their 
victims.  Eventually,  the  organization  became  a  gang  of  marauders 
and  robbers,  who  preyed  on  white  and  black  alike. 

President  Grant  in  a  special  message  to  Congress  (1871)  called 
the  attention  of  that  body  to  the  fact  that  the  "  Ku-Klux  "  not 
only  rendered  life  and  property  unsafe,  but  that  they  interfered 
with  the  carrying  of  the  mails  and  the  collection  of  the  revenue. 
In  1870  Congress  passed  the  first  so-called  "  Force  Act "  against 
the  "  Ku-Klux  Klan  ";  but  finding  that  the  emergency  demanded 
a  more  "ironclad  "  measure,  a  second  "Force  Act"  was  passed 
in  187 1.1  The  three  chief  features  of  this  act  were  :  (i)  it  em 
powered  the  federal  courts  to  severely  punish  all  attempts  to  deter 
any  citizen,  white  or  black,  from  voting  or  holding  office ;  (2)  in 
case  of  need  it  authorized  the  President  to  employ  military  force 
to  suppress  disorder  and  to  protect  the  polls ;  (3)  it  temporarily 
suspended  the  operation  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

Under  this  law  many  arrests  were  made,  the  "  Ku-Klux  Klan  " 
was  broken  up,  and  order  was  established.  In  1872  Congress 
passed  the  Act  removing  Political  Disabilities.2  It  restored  full 
civil  rights  to  all  persons  at  the  South,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  hundred  who  had  made  themselves  especially  conspicuous  as 
leaders  in  the  war  of  secession.  The  whites  now  gradually  obtained 
the  political  control  of  the  reconstructed  states,  and  the  reign  of  the 
"Carpetbagger,"  the  "Scalawag,"  and  the  negro  came  to  an  end. 

526.  The  Knights  of  Labor;  the  Federation  of  Labor;  estab 
lishment  of  the  Weather  Bureau;  San  Domingo;  the  Treaty  of 
Washington.  On  Thanksgiving  Day,  1869,  the  first  attempt  in 
this  country  was  made  to  organize  all  branches  of  manual  labor 
on  a  permanent  basis.  Under  the  leadership  of  Uriah  S.  Stephens 
of  Philadelphia,  seven  clothing  cutters  met  in  that  city  and  organ 
ized  the  secret  society  of  the  "Five  Stars,"  or  the  Knights  of 
Labor.  They  later  (1878)  adopted  a  platform  denouncing  "the 
alarming  development  and  aggressiveness  of  the  power  of  money 

!See  McPherson's  History  of  Reconstruction,  546;  Political  Hand  Books  for 
1870-1892.  2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  94. 


1871-]         RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION          535 

and  corporations  under  the  present  industrial  and  political  sys 
tems."  They  stated  their  object  to  be  "  to  secure  to  the  workers 
of  society  the  fullest  enjoyment  of  the  wealth  they  create."  A  few 
years  later  (1881),  the  oath-bound  obligation  of  secrecy  was  abol 
ished.  The  Knights  report  a  membership  of  40,000. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  was  organized  in  1881  for 
purposes  similar  to  those  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  Feder 
ation  claims  a  total  membership  of  over  2,000,000.  The  Ameri 
can  Railway  Union,  organized  in  1893,  confines  its  membership 
to  men  employed  on  the  railways  of  the  United  States.1 

These  societies,  though  professedly  nonpolitical,  have  exercised 
a  marked  influence  on  state  and  national  legislation  with  respect  to 
factory  laws,  hours  of  labor,  and  industrial  arbitration ;  and  they 
have  probably  helped  to  shape  the  platforms  issued  of  late  years 
by  the  Labor  parties.  In  fact,  these  organizations  are  to-day 
reckoned  among  the  chief  forces  in  American  life. 

In  1870  Congress,  acting  on  a  suggestion  made  many  years 
earlier,  established  a  Weather  Bureau  at  Washington  for  the  pur 
pose  of  predicting  the  probable  course  of  the  weather  throughout 
the  country  a  day  or  more  in  advance.  The  Bureau  has  done 
service  of  great  value  to  mariners  and  farmers;  and,  directly  or 
indirectly,  has  been  the  means  of  saving  much  life  and  property 
from  destruction  by  storms  and  floods,  and  has  contributed  greatly 
to  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  whole  community. 

Near  the  close  of  this  year  (1870)  the  President,  acting  con 
trary  to  the  advice  of  his  Cabinet,  signed  a  treaty  with  San 
Domingo  for  the  annexation  of  that  negro  Republic  to  the  United 
States.  He  believed  the  possession  of  the  island  would  secure  a 
very  valuable  coaling  station  for  the  vessels  of  our  navy.  The 
Senate  refused  to  ratify  the  treaty  and  the  President  reluctantly 
abandoned  the  annexation  project. 

The  following  year  (May  8,  1871)  the  Treaty  of  Washington  was 
concluded  with  Great  Britain.2  It  provided  for  (i)  the  settlement 

1  See  Wright's  Industrial  United  States,  ch.  xix-xx. 

2  See  Macdonald:s  Select  Statutes,  No.  93. 


536       THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [mi-1872 

by  arbitration  of  certain  questions  relating  to  the  boundary  line 
between  Washington  Territory  and  British  America;  (2)  the 
settlement  of  the  Alabama  claims,  —  of  damages  demanded  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States  for  destruction  of  property  by  the 
Alabama  and  other  Confederate  cruisers  equipped  in  England 
(§§  454,  503)  ;  (3)  the  settlement  of  the  claims  of  Great  Britain 
for  the  alleged  interference  by  our  fishermen  with  those  of  Canada. 

The  boundary  question  was  referred  to  the  emperor  of  Germany 
and  his  decision  was  duly  accepted.  The  Alabama  claims  were 
referred  to  a  board  of  five  arbitrators,1  who  met  in  Geneva,  Switzer 
land.  After  a  lengthy  session  they  decreed  (1871)  that  Great 
Britain  should  pay  the  United  States  $15,500,000  in  gold,  which 
was  accordingly  done. 

A  board  of  commissioners  meeting  in  Halifax  (1877)  decided 
the  perennial  fisheries  dispute,  at  least  for  a  time  (§§197,  235, 
548),  by  decreeing  that  we  should  pay  Great  Britain  $5,500,000 
in  gold  and  remit  duties  amounting  to  $4,200,000  more. 

This  treaty  of  arbitration  established  a  precedent  for  disposing 
of  similar  international  questions  in  the  future  without  the  costly 
and  cruel  aid  of  bayonet  and  cannon.2 

527.  The  presidential  election  (1872).  The  President's  persistent 
attempt  to  annex  San  Domingo  (§526)  created  a  strong  opposi 
tion  to  the  administration  and  alienated  Chase,  Sumner,8  Seward, 
and  Greeley,  with  other  influential  members  of  the  Republican 
party.  They  not  only  refused  to  support  General  Grant  for  a  second 

1  The  Geneva  tribunal  met  December  15,  1871.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Esq., 
represented  the  United  States  and  Lord  Chief  Justice  Cockburn  represented  England ; 
the  remaining  three  members  of  the  tribunal  were  appointed  by  the  king  of  Italy,  the 
president  of  the  Swiss  Republic,  and  the  emperor  of  Brazil. 

a  Between  1794  and  1893  more  than  forty  cases  of  international  dispute  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  and  other  European  powers  were  disposed  of  by 
arbitration.  Twenty-five  of  the  decisions  were  in  favor  of  the  United  States.  Since 
then  the  establishment  of  the  Hague  Tribunal  (§  585)  gives  further  promise  of  the 
peaceful  settlement  of  international  difficulties. 

8  Senator  Sumner  made  a  noted  speech  in  the  Senate  (May  31,  1872)  on  "  Repub 
licanism  versus  Grantism,"  in  which  he  concentrated  "  in  one  massive  broadside  all 
that  could  be  suggested"  against  Grant.  See  Sumner's  Works,  XV,  85-171,  and 
Elaine's  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  II,  533. 


1872]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         537 

term,  but  charged  his  administration  with  having  directly  or  indi 
rectly  encouraged  the  rise  of  political  "bosses,"  who  secured  offices 
for  their  favorites,  to  the  exclusion  of  better  men.  Furthermore, 
many  Republicans  were  dissatisfied  with  the  working  of  the  "  Force 
Act  "  (§  525).  They  questioned  whether  it  did  not  go  "  beyond 
constitutional  limits  "  and  doubted  if  it  helped  forward  the  cause 
of  good  government. 

This  opposition  to  what  Sumner  called  "  Grantism  "  caused  a 
split  in  the  party  and  led  to  the  formation  of  an  organization  which 
took  the  name  of  Liberal  Republicans.  They  adopted  a  platform 
severely  condemning  the  administration  and  calling  for  the  imme 
diate  and  absolute  removal  of  all  disabilities  imposed  on  account 
of  the  rebellion.  They  nominated  Horace  Greeley,  editor  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  for  President,  with  B.  Gratz  Brown  of  Missouri 
(the  Labor  Reform  candidate)  for  Vice  President. 

The  Democrats  adopted  the  Liberal  Republican  platform  and 
candidates ;  but  some  of  the  party  "  bolted  "  and,  under  the 
name  of  "  Straight-Out  Democrats,"  nominated  Charles  O'Conor. 
He,  however,  declined  to  accept  the  nomination. 

The  regular  Republicans  reaffirmed  the  principles  of  the  party, 
heartily  indorsed  the  work  of  the  administration,  and  renominated 
General  Grant  for  President,  with  Henry  Wilson  of  Massachu 
setts  for  Vice  President. 

The  Prohibitionists  and  the  Labor  Reformers  now  made  their 
first  appearance  as  national  political  parties;  both  have  since 
continued  in  the  field,  though  neither  have  yet  obtained  electoral 
votes  for  their  respective  candidates.  The  Prohibitionists,  in 
addition  to  the  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor,  first 
adopted  woman  suffrage  as  one  of  the  planks  in  their  platform.1 

1  In  1896  a  number  of  Prohibitionists  calling  themselves  "  Broad  Gaugers,"  or 
"  Workers  for  Humanity,"  endeavored  to  secure  the  insertion  of  a  "  free-silver"  plank 
in  the  platform  adopted  by  the  National  Convention.  The  plank  was  rejected  ;  the 
"  Broad  Gangers"  then  seceded  and  formed  an  independent  organization,  under  the 
name  of  the  National  Party,  advocating  prohibition,  woman  suffrage,  and  the  free 
coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  i.  See  Stanwood's  Presidential  Elections 
(revised  edition),  Appendix,  pp.  494-497. 


538        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY'    [1872-1873 

The  political  movements  and  combinations  of  recent  years 
make  the  original  platform  of  the  Labor  party  of  much  interest. 
It  demanded  (i)  that  the  federal  government  should  issue  all 
money  and  that  banks  of  issue  should  be  abolished;  (2)  that  no 
public  land  should  be  sold  or  granted  to  any  but  actual  settlers ; 

(3)  that  the  immigration  of  Chinese  laborers  should  be  stopped ; 

(4)  that  the  government  should  adopt  an  eight- hour  day  for  its 
employees ;   (5)  that  the  civil  service  should  be  removed  from  all 
partisan  influences ;   (6)  that  the  government  should  regulate  the 
charges  made  by  railways  and  telegraph  lines ;  (7)  that  the  occu 
pancy  of  the  presidential  chair  should  be  limited  to  a  single  term.1 

At  the  election  the  popular  vote  stood  3,597,132  for  Grant  to 
2,834,125  for  Greeley.  Mr.  Greeley  died  before  the  presidential 
electors  met.  Grant  received  286  electoral  votes  against  63  votes 
given  for  T.  A.  Hendricks,  B.  Gratz  Brown,  and  other  candidates. 
Grant  was  therefore  reflected  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

528.  The  new  Coinage  Act  demonetizing  silver;  the  Salary 
Act ;  postal  cards.  When  Congress  met  it  passed  a  Coinage  Act  '2 
(February  12,1873)  which  had  been  debated  on  and  off  for  between 
one  and  two  years.  The  measure  did  not  then  excite  any  par 
ticular  interest,  though  it  has  since  been  denounced  as  "the  Crime 
of  1873."  At  that  time  neither  gold  nor  silver  was  in  circulation. 
The  government  had  not  resumed  specie  payment  and  "  green 
backs,"  or  national  bank  notes,  were  in  use  throughout  the  country. 
Very  few  silver  dollars  had  been  coined  since  the  mint  was  estab 
lished.  The  average  value  of  the  issue  for  a  period  of  eighty 
years  was  only  about  $100,000  a  year.  These  silver  dollars  had 
disappeared  and  none  had  been  seen  for  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century.3 

1  The  demands  made  under  Nos.  3,  4,  5,  and  6  have  since  been  obtained  either 
wholly  or  in  part.     Nos.  3  and  5  were  first  demanded  by  the  Labor  party. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  96. 

3  The  act  of  1792  established  a  double  standard  with  free  coinage  of  gold  and 
silver  in  the  ratio  of  i  to  15  (§  255).     This  act  undervalued  gold,  which  was  there 
fore  exported  and  ceased  to  circulate.     The  act  of  1834  was  passed  to  remedy  this 
by  changing  the  ratio  to  i  to  16  and  reducing  the  fineness  of  the  gold  dollar  from 
25.8  grains  to  23.2  grains.     The  act  of  1834  undervalued  silver,  as  that  of  1792  had 


1873]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         539 

In  the  Coinage  Act,  Congress  now  dropped  the  standard 
silver  dollar,  "  the  dollar  of  our  fathers,"  from  the  list.1  The  act 
provided  for  the  coinage  of  gold  and  of  fractional  silver  pieces. 
It  also  ordered  the  coinage  of  a  special  "  trade  dollar,"  much 
heavier  than  the  former  standard  silver  dollar.  This  new  piece 
was  issued  in  order  to  facilitate  trade  with  China.  It  was  used 
as  legal  tender  for  a  short  time  until  an  act  forbade  it ;  a  few  years 
later  (1878),  the  issue  of  this  special  coin  was  discontinued. 

In  addition  to  this  legislation  respecting  coinage  Congress  passed 
another  noted  financial  measure  (1873)  which  received  the  nick 
name  of  the  "  salary  grab."  The  act  raised  the  President's  salary 
from  $25,000  to  $50,000,  where  it  has  since  remained.  It  also 
increased  the  salaries  of  the  judges  of  the  federal  courts  and  of 
the  members  of  Congress,  including  that  of  the  Congress  which 
passed  it.  Popular  indignation  was  aroused  and  Congress  was 
compelled  to  repeal  so  much  of  the  act  as  related  to  the  increase 
of  members'  salaries. 

The  same  year  (1873)  Congress  passed  a  bill  which  received 
the  hearty  approval  of  the  whole  country.  It  ordered  the  issue 
of  the  first  one-cent  postal  cards  (§  404). 

done  in  the  case  of  gold ;  the  result  was  that  silver  was  withdrawn  from  circulation 
and  exported  to  Europe.  The  act  of  1837  made  the  fineness  of  gold  and  silver  coins 
uniform,  but  silver  still  continued  to  be  exported.  The  act  of  1853  reduced  the 
weight  of  silver  coins  of  all  denominations  less  than  one  dollar  and  provided  that  they 
should  be  legal  tender  to  the  amount  of  $5.00  only,  whereas  under  the  previous  acts 
they  had  been  full  legal  tender.  Up  to  February  12,  1873, the  entire  number  of  silver 
dollars  coined  was  only  $8,031,238;  after  1853  that  coin  practically  disappeared 
from  circulation.  The  act  of  February  12,  1873,  recognized  this  fact  by  omitting 
the  silver  dollar  from  the  list  of  coins.  It  provided  that  the  unit  of  value  should 
be  the  gold  dollar  of  the  standard  weight  of  25.8  grains;  it  furthermore  provided 
for  the  coinage  of  a  silver  "  trade  dollar  "  of  420  grains  (for  trade  with  China)  and 
of  fractional  silver  coins  which  were  made  legal  tender  for  an  amount  not  exceed 
ing  $5.00.  By  oversight  the  use  of  the  "trade  dollar"  as  legal  tender  was  not 
prohibited.  In  1876  this  oversight  was  rectified.  See  William  C.  Hunt's  Notes  on 
the  Money  of  the  United  States  (compiled  from  the  Report  of  the  Director  of  the 
Mint  for  Bulletin  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor,  No.  2,  January,  1896, 
pp.  181-196) ;  and  compare  John  Sherman's  Recollections,  1, 464;  II,  1063-1065.  See, 
too,  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  403  ;  McMaster's  Essay  on  A 
Century  of  Silver,  and  White's  Money  and  Banking,  213-223. 
1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  403-405. 


540        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1871-1872 

529.  Political  "rings"  and  "bosses";  the  panic  of  1873;  tne 
Farmers'  Alliance ;  the  Inflation  Bill ;  Resumption.  One  of  the 
evil  results  of  the  Civil  War  was  the  speculative  spirit  it  encour 
aged  (§  509).  The  country  was  full  of  paper  money,  which  was 
subject  to  great  fluctuations.  The  actual  value  of  the  "  green 
back  "  was  at  the  best  not  quite  eighty-nine  cents  in  coin.  Spec 
ulation  bred  extravagance  and  political  corruption.  A  "  ring " 
of  politicians,  under  the  leadership  of  "  Boss  Tweed,"  managed 
to  get  possession  of  the  government  of  New  York  City  and 
(1865-1871)  robbed  the  taxpayers  of  many  millions.  Tweed 
and  his  gang  of  fellow-plunderers  were  finally  overthrown  (1871) 
through  the  efforts  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  and  other  prominent 
citizens.1 

The  Erie  Ring  got  possession  of  the  Erie  Railway,  and  the 
Whisky  Ring  defrauded  the  government  of  an  immense  amount 
of  revenue.  Many  government  officials  were  indicted  (1875)  f°r 
their  connection  with  this  gigantic  liquor  swindle. 

Later,  serious  frauds  were  unearthed  in  the  Custom  House 
departments  and  in  the  Indian  Bureau.  Furthermore,  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  was  charged  (1876)  with  selling  sutlerships  in  the 
army ;  he  escaped  impeachment  by  resigning  his  office.  Senator 
Hoar  of  Massachusetts  denounced  the  corruption  of  the  times  in 
a  powerful  speech  (May  6,  1876)  in  which  he  declared  that  these 
frauds,  with  others  that  had  been  exposed,  were  eating  the  heart 
out  of  the  Republic  and  turning  our  national  triumph  to  "  bitter 
ness  and  shame." 

But  if  the  political  results  of  speculation  were  disastrous,  so, 
too,  were  the  commercial  results.  Cheap  money  encouraged 
overproduction  in  manufactures,  overtrading  with  foreign  coun 
tries,  and  led  to  the  building  of  many  thousands  of  miles  of  rail 
ways  in  excess  of  the  actual  demand,  and  through  sections  of 
the  country  where  the  population  was  insufficient  to  support 
them.  In  addition  to  losses  through  unwise  investments,  the 
great  fires  of  Chicago  (1871)  and  of  Boston  (1872)  wiped  out 
i  See  Breen's  Thirty  Years  of  New  York  Politics,  55-?. 


187.V1874]     RECONSTRUCTION,   THE    NEW   NATION       541 

not  less  than  $200,000,000  worth  of  property  and  ruined  many 
business  men  and  insurance  companies. 

In  the  autumn  of  1873  a  prominent  banking  house  in  New  York, 
which  was  largely  interested  in  the  construction  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway,  suspended  payment.  This  failure  was  speedily 
followed  by  the  collapse  of  another  important  house  in  the  same 
city  and  the  panic  of  a  second  "Black  Friday"1  at  the  Stock 
Exchange.  The  panic  spread  from  the  great  money  center  of  the 
country  to  the  country  at  large.2  Credit  was  refused,  many  savings 
banks  were  forced  to  close  their  doors,  large  corporations  were 
driven  into  bankruptcy,  and  mills  and  factories  shut  down,  throwing 
.thousands  out  of  work.  The  crisis  was  soon  reached  and  passed, 
but  it  was  followed  by  a  very  long  period  of  depression. 

Meanwhile  a  secret  association  had  been  formed  at  Washington 
(1867),  which  spread  rapidly,  especially  in  the  Western  States. 
The  new  order  took  the  name  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  or 
"  Patrons  of  Industry."  Later,  the  members  were  commonly 
known  as  "  Grangers."  Their  chief  object  was  to  secure  lower 
freight  rates  for  farm  produce.  The  panic  of  1873  stimulated  the 
growth  of  the  "  Grangers,"  and  in  some  states  they  obtained  the 
passage  of  legislative  measures  regulating  the  charges  for  grain 
transportation  and  storage.3  The  order  exercised  a  strong  politi 
cal  influence,  which  helped  to  secure  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Act  (1887),  and  which  was  one  of  the  causes  favoring  the  organ 
ization  (1892)  of  the  People's  party,  or  "Populists." 

In  the  spring  following  the  panic  of  1873  Congress  passed  the 
Inflation  Bill.  Its  object  was  to  relieve  the  financial  strain  by 
issuing  $100,000,000  more  "greenbacks"  (§  455).  The  Presi 
dent  vetoed  it.4  He  said  that  the  country  had  an  abundance  of 

1  The  first  "  Black  Friday  "  was  in  the  autumn  of  1869,  when  Jay  Gould  and 
James  Fisk's  attempt  to  "  corner "  gold  collapsed. 

2  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  370,  397. 

3  The  United  States  Supreme  Court  decided   (1876)   six  cases  in  favor  of  the 
"  Grangers,"  thereby  sustaining  the   constitutionality  of  the  legislation  they  had 
obtained. 

4  See  Richardson's  Messages  of  the  Presidents,  VII,  268 ;  Mason's  Veto  Power,  80. 


542        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1875-1876 

paper  currency  and  that  Congress  had  pledged  (1869)  the  faith 
of  the  "United  States  to  resume  specie  payment  at  the  earliest 
practicable  moment  (§522).  In  1875  Senator  John  Sherman 
secured  the  passage  of  the  Resumption  Act,1  but  it  did  not  go 
into  operation  until  four  years  later  (§535). 

530.  The  Centennial  Exhibition  ;  admission  of  Colorado.  In  the 
spring  of  1876  a  national  exhibition,  held  under  the  auspices  of 
the  government,  was  opened  at  Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia. 
Its  object  was  to  commemorate  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  All  the  leading  nations  of  the 
world  took  part  in  it,  and  it  was  visited  by  nearly  ten  millions  of 
persons.  The  substitution  of  machine  power  for  hand  labor  was 
the  most  marked  feature  of  the  great  fair.  It  showed  that  a 
hundred  years  had  completely  revolutionized  manufacturing,  trans 
portation,  and  means  of  communication.  Two  of  the  most  remark 
able  novelties  exhibited  were  the  recently  invented  electric  light 
and  the  Bell  telephone,  which  was  then  generally  regarded  as  an 
ingenious  and  amusing  toy  of  no  practical  value. 

The  centennial  year  was  further  marked  by  the  admission  of 
Colorado,  the  thirty-eighth  state.  It  represented  the  "  New 
West."  Its  entrance  emphasized  the  territorial  growth  of  the 
nation,  which  began  its  career  a  century  before  with  but  thir 
teen  states  stretched  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  with  no 
claim  to  a  single  acre  of  the  vast  wilderness  extending  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Pacific. 

531.  The  " Greenback"  party;  the  disputed  presidential  election 
of  1876  ;  Indian  wars.  The  distress  caused  by  the  long-continued 
financial  depression  (§  529)  induced  the  formation  of  a  new 
political  organization  calling  itself  the  Independent  National,  or 
"Greenback,"  party.  It  demanded  an  increase,  but  not  an 
unlimited  increase,  of  the  paper  currency  issued  by  the  govern 
ment, -and  declared  that  the  money  which  was  good  enough  for 
the  soldier  was  good  enough  for  the  bondholder.  In  1869  the 

!See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  98;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the 
United  States,  372. 


1876]  RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION       543 

Supreme  Court  (Hepburn  vs.  Griswold)  had  decided  that  such 
currency  was  not  legal  tender  for  the  payment  of  all  debts.  Chief 
Justice  Chase  then  said  "that  the  Legal  Tender  Act  violated 
justice,  that  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution, 
and  that  it  was  prohibited  by  the  Constitution."  x  But  after  the 
retirement  of  Chief  Justice  Chase,  the  Court  reversed  that  decision 
in  two  new  cases  (Knox  vs.  Lee)  1871  and  (Juilliard  vs.  Green- 
man)  1884.  Eventually  (1884)  the  "  Greenback  "  party  advocated 
the  issue  of  General  B.  F.  Butler's  "  fiat  money."  ;  This  move 
ment  developed  its  greatest  strength  in  the  Western  States. 

A  part  of  the  Republicans  urged  the  renomination  of  General 
Grant  for  a  third  term  ;  but  the  House  of  Representatives  passed 
a  resolution  by  234  to  18,  declaring  that  such  a  nomination  would 
be  "  unwise,  unpatriotic,  and  fraught  with  peril  to  our  free 
institutions." 

The  Republican  Convention  demanded  the  resumption  of 
specie  payment  at  the  earliest  practicable  date.  It  nominated 
Governor  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  of  Ohio  for  President  and  William 
A.  Wheeler  of  New  York  for  Vice  President. 

The  war  cry  of  the  Democrats  was  "  Reform."  They  nomi 
nated  Governor  Samuel  J.Tilden  of  New  York, —  a  "hard-money" 
man  who  had  labored  successfully  to  destroy  the  robber  gang  led 
by  the  infamous  "  Boss  Tweed  "  (§529).  For  Vice  President 
they  nominated  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana. 

The  "Greenback  "  party  nominated  Peter  Cooper  of  New  York. 

The  South  dreaded  negro  supremacy  and  cast  a  "  solid  vote  "  for 
Tilden.  The  election  was  so  close  that  each  party  claimed  suc 
cess  and  charged  the  other  with  gross  fraud.  In  order  to  settle 
the  dispute,  which  was  fast  growing  serious,  Congress  appointed 

1  See  Rhodes'  United  States,  III,  568  ;  North  American  Review,  April,  1870,  325. 

2  Fiat  Money  :   Paper  money  issued  by  decree  or  "fiat"  of  the  national  govern 
ment  and  not  redeemable  in  coin.     In  1884  the  "  Greenback"  party  and  the  Anti- 
Monopolist  party  both   nominated   General    Butler  for   President.     Speaking  of 
"  greenbacks,"  he  said,  "  I  desire  that  the  dollar  so  issued  shall  never  be  redeemed." 
He  added  that  he  saw  no  more  reason  why  such  a  paper  dollar  should  be  redeemed 
than  why  a  yardstick  or  a  quart  measure  should  be  redeemed.   Butler's  Book,  page  953. 


544  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1377 

a  commission  composed  of  five  senators,  five  representatives,  and 
five  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  commission  was  in  session 
for  more  than  a  month,  during  which  time  the  whole  country  was 
kept  in  a  perilous  state  of  anxiety  and  alarm.  The  commissioners 
finally  decided  (March  2,  1877),  two  days  before  inauguration 
day,  by  a  vote  of  eight  to  seven,  that  the  certificates  of  returns 
showed  that  Hayes  had  received  185  electoral  votes  to  184  cast 
for  Tilden.1  The  popular  vote  stood  4,033,950  for  Hayes  to 
4,284,885  for  Tilden.  Governor  Hayes  was  therefore  declared 
President  by  a  majority  of  one. 

In  the  course  of  Grant's  presidency  the  Apache  Indians  of 
Arizona  and  the  Modoc  Indians  of  California  began  hostilities 
(1871-1872),  but  were  speedily  overcome.  A  few  years  later 
(1876),  the  Sioux  Indians  led  by  "Sitting  Bull"  massacred  the 
gallant  General  Custer  and  his  entire  force  near  the  Black  Hills 
in  Dakota  territory.  General  Miles,  the  commander  of  the  Army 
of  the  United  States,  forced  the  savages  to  surrender,  but  "he 
adds  his  weighty  testimony  to  that  of  leading  military  men  who 
have  gone  before  him,  in  saying  that  he  has  never  known  an  Indian 
war  in  which  the  white  man  was  not  the  aggressor." 

532.  Summary.  The  chief  points  in  Grant's  administration 
were:  (i)  the  completion  of  the  first  transcontinental  railway; 
(2)  the  admission  to  Congress  of  representatives  from  all  the 
seceded  states;  (3)  the  passage  of  the  "Force  Act";  (4)  the 
settlement  by  arbitration  of  the  Alabama  claims,  the  fisheries 
dispute,  and  the  northwest  boundary  question ;  (5 )  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  the  "  Grangers "  ;  (6)  the 
demonetization  of  silver;  (7)  the  financial  and  business  panic  of 
18 73;  (8)  the  opening  of  the  Centennial  Exhibition  and  the 
admission  of  Colorado;  (9)  the  rise  of  the  "Greenback"  party 
and  the  Hayes- Tilden  disputed  election. 
1  See  Stanwood's  Presidential  Elections,  332-344  ;  McClure's  Magazine,  May,  1904, 


1877]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION          545 

RUTHERFORD  B.   HAYES  (REPUBLICAN),  ONE  TERM 
(1877-1881) 

533.  Inaugural  address ;  civil-service  reform ;  withdrawal  of 
troops  from  the  South.  In  his  inaugural  address  President  Hayes 
(§  53 0  declared  that  he  should  endeavor  to  wipe  out  the  "color 
line  "  in  politics  and  "  the  distinction  between  North  and  South," 
to  the  end  that  we  might  have  "  a  united  country." 

There  had  long  been  an  earnest  demand  for  reform  in  the  civil 
service  (§  527).  The' leader  in  that  movement  was  George  W. 
Curtis.  But  Lincoln  saw  its  necessity  before  Curtis  began  his 
great  work.  A  few  days  after  the  fall  of  Richmond,  as  he  was 
standing  with  a  friend,  Lincoln  pointed  to  the  crowd  of  office 
seekers  besieging  his  door,  and  said  :  "  Look  at  that !  Now 
we  have  conquered  the  rebellion ;  but  here  you  see  something 
that  may  become  more  dangerous  to  this  Republic  than  the 
rebellion  itself." 

Grant  was  conscious  of  the  same  danger  and  made  an  unsuc 
cessful  effort  to  break  up  the  "spoils  system"  (§  349),  but  he 
could  not  drive  the  wedge  deep  enough.1  The  first  demand  for 
a  reform  in  this  method,  made  in  any  political  platform,  origi 
nated  with  the  Labor  party  in  1872  (§527). 

President  Hayes  pledged  himself  to  labor  for  a  "  thorough  " 
reform  in  the  civil  service  ;  he  was  a  man  who  meant  every  word 
he  said ; 2  but  although  both  of  the  great  political  parties  had 

*In  1865  Mr.  Thomas  A.  Jenckes  of  Rhode  Island  introduced  the  first  bill  in 
Congress  for  the  reform  of  the  civil  service.  The  bill  met  with  ridicule  and  over 
whelming  defeat;  but  in  1871  a  bill  was  passed  giving  the  President  power  to 
establish  rules  for  the  admission  of  applicants  for  places  in  the  civil  service.  Presi 
dent  Grant  appointed  George  W.  Curtis  of  New  York  chief  of  a  commission  for  that 
purpose.  The  object  sought  was  to  do  away  with  the  system  which  gave  positions 
simply  as  rewards  for  party  services,  and  to  substitute  competitive  examinations 
which  would  secure  an  equal  opportunity  for  all  candidates.  In  1873  Congress 
refused  to  make  further  appropriations  for  continuing  the  work  of  the  commission, 
and  the  following  year  the  President  was  obliged  to  abandon  it. 

2  President  Hayes  "  had  a  resolute  will,  irreproachable  integrity,  and  a  comprehen 
sive  and  remarkably  healthy  view  of  public  affairs."  See  Andrews  The  United 
States  in  Our  Time,  223;  Mason's  Veto  Power,  132,  133. 


546          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1877 

urged  it  in  their  platforms,  nothing  practical  was  done.  Many 
men  were  indifferent;  others  believed  with  Jackson  (§  350)  that 
frequent  rotation  in  office  was  best  for  the  interests  of  all ;  while 
the  "  machine  politicians  "  in  and  out  of  Congress  naturally  fought 
with  all  their  might  against  any  change  which  would  deprive  them 
of  their  influence  and  of  the  votes  and  profits  it  brought  them. 

On  another  important  point  the  President  met  with  better  suc 
cess.  He  believed  that  the  time  had  come  for  the  withdrawal  of 
federal  troops  from  the  South,  and  that  the  people  of  the  recon 
structed  states  must  be  trusted  to  manage  their  own  affairs. 
Both  South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  had  dual  and  rival  governors 
and  legislatures,  one  elected  by  the  Republicans,  the  other  by 
the  Democrats.  After  a  conference  with  the  governors  of  those 
states,  President  Hayes  withdrew  (1877)  the  troops  and  the  Demo 
crats  came  peaceably  into  power. 

534.  Great  railway  strike.    In  the  summer  of  1877  a  formi 
dable  strike  broke  out  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway  and 
spread  rapidly  over  a  large  part  of  the  Northern  States.     Carroll 
D.  Wright  calls  this  movement  the  first  great  labor  revolt  in  our 
history.1     It  began  with  a  protest  against  reduction    of  wages. 
At  one  time  more  than  100,000  men  were  out.     They  held  con 
trol  of  from  6000  to  7000  miles  of  road.     Serious  riots  took  place, 
especially  at  Pittsburg.     Machine  shops,  freight  houses,  and  freight 
cars  were  burned  and   many  people  were  killed  and  wounded. 
The  governors  of  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia,  Illinois,  and  Mary 
land  appealed  to  the  President  for  help.     He  sent  detachments 
of  troops,  who  happily  succeeded  in  restoring  order  without  resort 
ing  to  force.    The  strike  was  unsuccessful ;  its  total  cost  in  loss  of 
wages  and  dividends,  in  increased  taxes  to  cover  damages,  and  in 
interruption  to  business  was  estimated  at  between  $80,000,000 
and  $100,000,000. 

535.  The  Bland-Allison  Silver  Act;  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ment.    By    the    Public    Credit   Act    (1869)   (§522)    "the  faith 
of  the  United  States  was  solemnly  pledged  to  the  payment  in 

1  See  North  American  Review,  June,  1902. 


1878]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION          547 

coin,1  or  its  equivalent,"  of  all  government  bonds,  except  in  cases 
where  the  law  authorizing  the  issue  of  such  obligations  provided 
that  the  same  might  be  paid  in  paper  currency.  Some  persons 
regarded  this  law  as  unjust  since  it  might  compel  the  government 
to  pay  specie  in  return  for  loans  it  had  received  in  depreciated 
"greenbacks";  but  others  took  the  ground  that  since  it  had 
always  been  understood  that  the  government  would  redeem  the 
"greenbacks"  in  coin,  the  holders  of  bonds  were  entitled  to 
receive  specie  payment. 

When  the  Public  Credit  Act  (1869)  was  passed  "  coin  "  literally 
meant  either  gold  or  silver,  but  the  act  of  1873  dropped  (§528) 
the  silver  dollar  from  the  list  of  coins  (§  255)  ;  hence,  as  the  law 
stood,  all  bonds  calling  for  specie  must  be  paid  in  gold. 

A  majority  in  Congress  urged  the  restoration  of  the  silver  dol 
lar  as  legal  tender,  and  the  House  voted  for  the  free  and  un 
limited  coinage  of  silver.2  But  a  minority  objected  because  the 
enormous  output  of  that  metal  by  the  western  mines  had  caused 
it  to  fall  heavily  in  value  in  the  world's  markets.  They  argued 
that  to  revive  the  old  standard  dollar  would  be  to  issue  "  dis 
honest  money." 

A  resolution  making  all  bonds  of  the  United  States  payable, 
at  the  option  of  the  government,  in  silver  dollars  passed  both 
branches  of  Congress  in  January,  1878,  by  a  large  majority. 
Later,  Congress  (February  28,  1878)  passed  the  Bland- Allison 
Bill.8  It  did  not  restore  the  free  coinage  of  silver  (§255)  but  it 
authorized  the  purchase  of  from  $2,000,000  to  $4,000,000  worth 
of  silver  per  month  to  be  coined  into  standard  dollars. 

President  Hayes  vetoed  the  bill  on  the  ground  of  the  depreci 
ated  value  of  silver.  He  urged  that  it  would  be  a  grave  breach 
of  the  public  faith  to  pay  the  bondholders  in  any  coin  worth  less 
in  the  market  than  that  which  had  been  received  from  them. 


1  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  always  interpreted  the  word  "  coin  "  to  mean 
gold. 

2  See  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  296,  312. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  102. 


548          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1878- 

"  If,"  said  he,  "  the  country  is  to  be  benefited  by  a  silver  coinage, 
it  can  be  done  only  by  the  issue  of  silver  dollars  of  full  value  1 
which  will  defraud  no  man."  2  But  Congress  did  not  take  the 
President's  view ;  some  members  believed,  as  did  certain  eminent 
bimetallists,  that  if  the  government  made  large  purchases  of  silver, 
the  price  of  that  metal  would  rise  and  so  bring  the  silver  dollar  to 
a  parity  with  gold  ;  others  argued  that  the  community  demanded 
more  money  and  that  the  recoinage  of  silver  could  alone  satisfy 
this  demand.  Others,  again,  asked  for  a  "cheap  dollar "  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  lessen  the  burden  of  taxation  by  enabling  them 
to  pay  the  interest  and  principal  of  the  national  debt  in  silver. 

For  these  reasons  Congress  passed  the  bill  over  the  President's 
veto  on  the  same  day  it  was  received.  The  act  continued  in 
operation  from  1878  to  1890,  during  which  time  more  than  378,- 
000,000  silver  dollars  were  coined  and  stored  in  the  Treasury 
vaults  at  Washington.  Later,  the  total  reached  $450,000,000.  Less 
than  a  twelvemonth  afterward  (January  i,  1879), tne  government, 
having  accumulated  more  than  $140,000,000  in  gold  coin  and 
bullion,  mainly  by  the  sale  of  bonds,  resumed  specie  payment 3 
(§  529),  and  all  "greenbacks"  presented  at  the  Treasury  or  its 
agencies  were  promptly  redeemed  in  gold.  Very  few  notes  were 
presented  for  redemption,  for  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  gold 
could  certainly  be  had  "  nobody  wanted  it."  Up  to  that  date  more 
than  $400,000,000  of  the  principal  of  the  public  debt  (§  508)  had 
been  canceled.  The  payments  from  the  close  of  the  war  to  1897 
averaged  more  than  $2500  for  each  hour  of  the  entire  time,  and 
reached  a  total  of  nearly  $1,000,000,000;  this  left  the  outstand 
ing  debt  at  that  date  at  about  $i, 800, 000,000 .4  The  effect  of 
the  resumption  of  specie  payment  was  to  greatly  strengthen  the 
credit  of  the  government  and  enable  it  to  borrow  all  the  money 

1  The  market  value,  by  weight,  of  the  standard  silver  dollar  was  then  from  90  to 
92  cents. 

2  See  Richardson's  Messages  of  the  Presidents,  VII,  486 ;  Mason's  Veto  Power,  82. 
8  See  John  Sherman's  Recollections,  II,  701-702;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of 

the  United  States,  374. 

4  On  January  i,  1901,  the  national  debt  was  $1,099,191,310.36. 


1880]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION          549 

it  required  at  low  rates  of  interest.  The  result  was  that  the  chief 
part  of  the  debt  was  refunded,  greatly  to  the  profit  of  the  Treas 
ury  and  of  the  taxpayers. 

536 .  The  presidential  election  ( 1 880 ) .   The  presidential  question 
and  the  question  respecting  the  division  of  honors  and  offices  had 
split  the  Republican  party  into  two  factions.1     One  demanded 
the  renomination  of  Grant  for  a  third  term,  while  the  other  bit 
terly  opposed  it.     The  Republican  National  Convention  adopted 
a  platform  demanding  a  tariff  which  should  "  favor   American 
labor"  and  restrict   Chinese  immigration.     They  declared  that 
now  that  slavery  had  been  destroyed,  Mormon  polygamy  must  go. 
After  a  hard  struggle  the  factions  in  convention  compromised  by 
nominating  General  Garfield  of  Ohio  for  President  and  Chester 
A.  Arthur  of  New  York  for  Vice  President.2 

The  Democratic  Convention  demanded  a  tariff  for  revenue 
only.  They  nominated  General  W.  S.  Hancock  for  President 
and  W.  H.  English  of  Indiana  for  Vice  President. 

The  Greenback  party  (§  531)  repeated  its  demands  for  the  sub 
stitution  of  "  greenbacks  "  for  the  notes  of  national  banks  and 
for  the  unlimited  coinage  of  silver. 

The  electoral  vote  stood  214  for  Garfield  to  155  for  Hancock. 
The  popular  vote  gave  Garfield  4,454,416  to  4,444,952  for 
Hancock. 

537.  The  improvement  of  the  Mississippi.    In    1874  Captain 
James  B.  Eads  completed  the  great  steel  bridge  across  the  Mis 
sissippi  at  St.  Louis,  —  "  the  finest  specimen  of  metal- arch  con 
struction   in   the  world."     Captain   Eads   then   laid   before   the 
government  plans  for  deepening  the  South  Pass,  or  chief  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  which  was  blocked  by  a  sand  bar,  that  seri 
ously  obstructed  navigation.    Both  the  state  of  Louisiana  and  the 

1  One  faction  styled  itself  "  Stalwarts,"  or  Thorough-Going  Republicans ;  they 
advocated  the  nomination  of  Grant  and  dubbed  the  opposition  "  Half-Breeds,"  or  Half 
Republicans.     The  "  Stalwarts  "  were  under  the  leadership  of  Senator  Conkling  of 
New  York,  while  Senator  Elaine  of  Maine  marshaled  the  "  Half-Breeds." 

2  General   Garfield   ranged   himself   on   the   side   of   the  "  Half-Breeds,"  while 
Mr.  Arthur  was  a  prominent  "  Stalwart." 


550        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [isso-issi 

United  States  had  spent  a  great  deal  in  endeavoring  to  perma 
nently  deepen  the  channel  of  the  river,  but  without  effect. 

Captain  Eads'  plans  were  accepted,  and  he  began  the  con 
struction  of  a  system  of  jetties,  or  artificial  banks.  His  object 
was  to  narrow  the  river  and  thereby  increase  the  force  of  the 
current  so  that  it  would  not  only  deepen  the  channel  but  carry 
the  sediment  out  to  sea.  He  completed  his  great  work  four 
years  later  (1879).  It  proved  to  be  an  entire  success.  The 
river,  as  he  anticipated,  deepened  its  own  channel  to  a  depth 
of  thirty  feet,  so  that  large  ocean  steamers  now  have  no  diffi 
culty  in  reaching  New  Orleans.  This  improvement  has  saved 
the  expenditure  of  many  millions  for  dredging  and  has  added 
enormously  to  the  commerce  of  the  chief  port  of  the  South. 

538.  Summary.  The  principal  events  of  the  Hayes  administra 
tion  were  :  (i)  the  withdrawal  of  federal  troops  from  the  South ; 
(2)  the  great  railway  strike ;  (3)  the  passage  of  the  Bland- Allison 
Silver  Act  over  the  President's  veto;  (4)  the  resumption  of  specie 
payment;  (5)  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  lower 
Mississippi. 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  (REPUBLICAN),  ONE  TERM 
(1881-1885) 

539.  Trying  position  of  the  President;  his  assassination.    The 

President  (§  536)  was  anxious  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation 
between  the  opposing  factions  of  the  Republican  party,  but  at 
the  same  time  he  resolved  to  pursue  an  independent  course  and 
make  nominations  to  office  from  either  side,  as  he  thought  best. 
This  course  involved  him  in  difficulty  and  made  his  position 
peculiarly  trying.  Among  the  disappointed  office  seekers  was 
Charles  J.  Guiteau,  a  political  adventurer,  "  half  fool  and  half 
fanatic." 

Not  being  able  to  secure  the  appointment  of  consul  general 
to  Paris,  which  he  coveted,  he  resolved  to  murder  the  President. 


1881-1883]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION       551 

His  avowed  object  was  to  throw  the  executive  power  into  the 
hands  of  Vice  President  Arthur,  who  belonged  to  the  faction 
opposed  to  that  which  chose  Garfield  as  head  of  the  Republic 
(§536).  Guiteau  shot  the  President  (July  2,  iSSi);1  when 
arrested  he  exulted  in  the  act  of  assassination  and  declared  that 
the  Almighty  had  inspired  him  to  commit  the  deed.  He  was 
tried  for  murder,  found  guilty,  and  hanged. 

540.  The  Pendleton  Civil  Service  Reform  Act;  the  "  Star 
Route"  frauds.  The  murder  of  the  President  gave  an  unmis 
takable  emphasis  to  the  demand  for  civil-service  reform  (§  533). 
Senator  Pendleton  of  Ohio  introduced  a  bill  (1882)  to  give  "all 
citizens,  duly  qualified,"  "  equal  opportunities"  to  secure  employ 
ment  in  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States.  The  bill  received 
the  hearty  support  of  both  the  great  political  parties.  It  was 
promptly  passed  (January  16,  i883),2  and  President  Arthur  at 
once  appointed  a  Civil  Service  Commission  to  carry  the  law 
into  effect. 

The  new  method  of  filling  minor  government  offices,  by  the 
system  of  competitive  examination,  was  put  in  operation  at 
Washington,  where  many  thousand  clerks  are  employed  in  the 
different  departments.  It  was  gradually  extended  to  all  custom 
houses  and  post  offices  having  upwards  of  fifty  clerks.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  the  "Merit  System"  and  the  end  of  the  spoils  system 
(§  349).  Henceforth  Napoleon's  maxim  was  to  be  the  rule  :  "No 
favoritism,  but  give  the  tools  to  those  who  know  how  to  use  them." 

Meanwhile  Congress  set  itself  to  investigate  the  "  Star  Route  " 
frauds.  The  name  "  Star  Route  "  was  used  to  designate  stage 
lines  for  carrying  the  mails  in  parts  of  the  country  where  they 
could  not  be  carried  by  railways  or  steamboats.  The  whole 
number  of  such  routes  was  between  nine  and  ten  thousand.  A 
number  of  mail  contractors  and  government  officials  formed  a 
"  ring."  This  "  ring  "  got  appropriations  on  false  estimates  and 

1  President  Garfield  lingered  until  autumn  and  then  died  (September  19,  1881). 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  109;  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV, 
367,  400. 


552        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1883-1884 

on  fictitious  pay  rolls,  by  means  of  which  they  robbed  the  gov 
ernment  —  that  is  to  say,  the  taxpayers  of  the  country  —  of 
about  $500,000  yearly.  The  gang  was  broken  up,  but  unfortu 
nately  the  swindlers  who  composed  it  managed  to  get  off  without 
punishment. 

541.  The  Edmunds  Anti-Polygamy  Act;  the  tariff  ;  labor  leg 
islation;  panic  of  1884.  For  twenty  years  a  law  had  existed  for 
bidding  polygamy  in  the  territories.  The  Mormons  protested 
that  this  law  was  a  direct  violation  of  that  article  of  the  Con 
stitution  which  forbids  Congress  prohibiting  the  "  free  exercise 
of  religion"  (Appendix,  page  xvi,  I).  But  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  (Reynolds  vs.  United  States]  decided  (1878)  that 
the  act  was  constitutional.1  In  1882  Senator  Edmunds  of  Ver 
mont  brought  in  a  bill 2  which  provided  that  polygamy  in  the 
territories  should  be  punished  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  and, 
furthermore,  that  the  person  convicted  should  be  deprived  of  the 
right  to  vote  or  to  hold  any  office  or  place  of  public  trust.  The 
bill  passed,  and  more  than  a  thousand  Mormons  were  convicted 
and  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 

The  year  following  (1883)  the  tariff  was  thoroughly  revised 
for  the  first  time  since  the  war  (§  455).  The  succeeding  year 
(1884)  Congress  established  the  National  Bureau  of  Labor  Sta 
tistics  at  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  information 
which  might  be  of  use  in  the  equitable  adjustment  of  the  rela 
tions  of  labor  and  capital,  and  which  would  help  to  promote 
the  best  interests  of  workingmen.  In  1882  Congress  prohibited 
Chinese  immigration  for  ten  years ; 8  in  1 884  it  enacted  a  more 
stringent  law.  It  also  passed  the  Alien  Contract  Labor  Act,4 
which  excluded  all  foreign  laborers  under  contract,  when  their 
work  would  compete  with  American  labor. 

1  The  court  took  the  ground  that  while  Congress  had  no  power  to  interfere  with 
religious  belief  as  such,  it  had  the  same  right  to  prohibit  the  members  of  a  church 
from  practicing  polygamy  that  it  had  to  forbid  their  offering  up  human  sacrifices  as 
part  of  their  religious  worship.  See  Carson's  History  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  pp.  498,  499. 

a  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  106.      3  ibid.,  No.  107.      *  Ibid.,  No.  no. 


1884]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW    NATION         553 

A  commercial  and  financial  panic  occurred  in  1 884,  but  it  was 
not  as  serious  as  that  of  1873  (§  529).  It:  was  generally  attributed 
to  the  overconstruction  of  railways  or  to  the  mismanagement  of 
important  lines.  Much  capital  had  been  badly  invested  and  iron 
and  steel  industries  felt  the  depression.  Leading  bimetallists 
believed  that  the  action  of  Germany  in  demonetizing  silver  (1871- 
1875)  was  a  chief  cause  of  the  panic.  It  was  followed  by  an 
unusual  number  of  strikes  and  lockouts.1 

542.  The  presidential  election  (1884).  There  was  a  strong 
reaction  in  both  of  the  great  parties  against  "  machine  politics  " 
and  professional  politicians.  The  issue,  so  far  as  one  existed, 
was  between  the  Republican  policy  of  protection  and  the  Demo 
cratic  demand  for  a  simple  revenue  tariff. 

The  Republican  party  nominated  James  G.  Elaine,  with  John 
A.  Logan  of  Illinois  for  Vice  President.  The  Democrats  nomi 
nated  Grover  Cleveland,  with  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  of  Indiana 
for  Vice  President.  Many  members  of  the  Republican  party  de 
clared  themselves  strongly  opposed  to  the  action  of  the  National 
Convention.  These  Independent  Republicans  were  nicknamed 
"  Mugwumps."  2  They  cast  their  votes  for  the  Democratic  can 
didate  in  the  belief  that  he  would  use  his  influence  to  extend 
civil-service  reform  (§  540). 

The  electoral  vote  stood  219  for  Cleveland  to  182  for  Elaine; 
the  popular  vote  gave  Cleveland  4,874,986  to  4,851,981  for 
Elaine.  But  although  the  Democrats  triumphed,  the  Senate 
remained  Republican.  This  made  party  legislation  practically 
impossible. 

543.  The  New  Orleans  Exposition.  The  following  December 
the  Cotton  Planters'  Association  opened  (1884)  a  World's  Fair 
in  New  Orleans,  the  largest  cotton  port  in  the  United  States. 
The  exhibition  was  designed  to  commemorate  the  one  hundredth 


1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  409-410. 

2  "  Mugwump."    An  Indian  word  occurring  in  Eliot's  Indian  Bible  (1661)  and 
meaning  a  leader  or  chief.     The  Independent  Republicans  accepted  the  nickname 
as  an  honorable  title. 


554        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1884-1885 

anniversary  of  the  shipment  of  cotton  from  this  country  to 
Europe.  In  1784  a  few  bags  of  it,  amounting  in  all  to  about  one 
bale,  were  exported  from  Charleston  to  Liverpool. 

Slavery  and  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  (§  259)  gave  an 
immense  impetus  to  the  production  of  cotton,  and  in  1860  the 
crop  amounted  to  5,000,000  bales.  This  made  cotton  the  "  king  " 
of  American  staples.  When  slavery  was  overthrown  many  believed 
that  the  chief  industry  of  the  South  was  ruined ;  but  under  free 
labor  the  production  of  cotton  increased  enormously,  and  8,000,- 
ooo  bales  were  put  into  the  market  in  1884. 

Side  by  side  with  this  increase  another  most  lucrative  industry 
had  grown  up.  Under  slavery  the  cotton  seed  was  thrown  aside 
and  every  year  thousands  of  tons  were  burned  as  useless.  Free 
labor  found  by  experiment  that  the  seed  could  be  made  to  fur 
nish  "food,  fuel,  oil,  and  fertilizer,"  which  would  sell  for  more 
than  $30,000,000  annually.  In  fact,  high  authorities  believe  that 
if  the  cotton  plant  did  not  produce  a  single  pound  of  cotton,  it 
would  still  pay  to  cultivate  it  solely  for  the  valuable  products 
which  can  be  obtained  from  the  seed. 

The  New  Orleans  Exhibition  did  a  much-needed  work  in  call 
ing  attention  to  the  national  wealth  and  immense  resources  of 
the  Southern  States,  and  it  helped  to  foster  friendly  political  and 
social  relations  between  those  states  and  the  North.  Both  sec 
tions  stood  on  a  common  basis  of  labor ;  both  recognized  the  fact 
that  whatever  contributed  to  the  prosperity  and  progress  of  one 
could  not  fail  to  be  of  use  to  the  other,  and  that  however  good 
independence  might  be,  interdependence  might  be  better  still. 

544.  Summary.  The  chief  events  of  the  administration  were  : 
(i)  the  assassination  of  the  President  and  the  succession  of  Vice 
President  Arthur ;  (2)  the  Pendleton  Civil  Service  Reform  Act ; 
(3)  the  Edmunds  Anti-Polygamy  Act,  followed  by  important  labor 
legislation  and  by  the  opening  of  the  New  Orleans  Exposition. 


RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         555 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  (DEMOCRAT),  ONE  TERM  (1885-1889) 

545.  The    inauguration ;    death   of    General   Grant.    President 
Cleveland  (§  542)  was  the  first  Democratic  President  who  had 
been  inaugurated  (§  433)  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
and   many  southerners  who   had   not  visited  Washington   since 
Buchanan's  day  came  to  the  capital  to  witness  the  ceremony. 
Mr.  Cleveland  made  no  sweeping  changes  respecting  government 
officials ;  his  declared  purpose  was  to  be  faithful  to  the  spirit  of 
the  civil-service  reform  (§  540). 

Toward  the  close  of  July  (1885),  General  Grant  died.  He  had 
spent  the  last  months  of  his  life  in  writing  his  "Memoirs"  in 
order  to  save  his  family  from  the  consequences  of  bankruptcy, 
which  came  upon  them  through  the  fraud  of  a  partner  in  busi 
ness.  It  has  been  well  said  that  nothing  in  his  whole  career  was 
more  heroic  than  the  diligence  and  determination  with  which  he 
worked  at  his  task  while  he  was  slowly  dying  from  an  exhausting 
and  painful  disease. 

His  funeral  showed  what  progress  reconciliation  had  made  be 
tween  North  and  South.  Many  of  the  prominent  men  who  fought 
against  him  followed  him  to  the  grave,  and  among  the  pallbearers 
were  several  Confederate  generals. 

546.  Cleveland's  first  annual  message ;  the  tariff ;  silver  coin 
age;  public  lands.    In  his  first  annual  message  to  Congress  (1885) 
the  President  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  revenue  of  the 
government  was  in  excess  of  its  actual  needs ;  he  recommended 
the  adoption  of  a  tariff  which  should  yield  enough   to  meet  all 
reasonable  demands,  while  at  the  same  time  it  should  "  protect 
the  interests  of  American  labor."     The  Mills  Bill  was  introduced 
"  to  reduce  taxation,"  but  it  was  defeated  in  the  Senate,  where  a 
majority  regarded  it  as  a  "  free-trade  "  measure. 

He  urged  Congress  to  suspend  "  the  compulsory  coinage  of  silver 
dollars"  by  repealing  the  Bland-Allison  Act  of  1878  (§  535).  He 
recommended  that  steps  should  be  taken  to  recover  public  land 
which  had  been  obtained  by  fraudulent  means  or  through  defective 


556          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1886 

legislation  for  purely  speculative  purposes.  The  Land  Department 
acted  on  this  suggestion  and  succeeded  in  getting  back  more  than 
100,000,000  acres,  to  be  disposed  of  as  farms  and  homesteads 
to  actual  settlers. 

547.  Strikes  and  Anarchist  riots  in  Chicago.    The  year  1886 
was  noteworthy  for  labor  troubles  and   strikes.     The  agitation 
began  at  the  West ;  it  was  particularly  violent  in  Chicago.     On 
the  first  of  May  40,000  workmen  struck  in  that  city  on  the  ques 
tion  of  a  reduction  of  time.     Nearly  all  labor  came  to  a  standstill 
and  every  railway  was  crippled.    Two  days  later,  a  band  of  strikers 
made  an  attack  on  the  McCormick  Reaper  Works.     The  police 
undertook  to  defend  the  works,  and  a  fight  occurred  in  which 
several  of  the  attacking  party  were  wounded. 

The  following  evening  the  strikers  met  in  the  Old  Haymarket. 
Violent  speeches  were  made  and  the  police  ordered  the  gather 
ing  to  disperse.  As  they  were  preparing  to  enforce  the  order 
a  dynamite  bomb  was  thrown,  which  killed  and  wounded  sixty 
officers.  The  mob  then  drew  revolvers  and  began  firing  on  the 
officers.  The  officers  returned  the  fire,  charged  on  the  mob  with 
terrible  effect,  and  arrested  a  number  of  the  leaders  of  the  riot; 
all  were  foreigners.  They  were  tried  for  murder  and  four  were 
executed;  a  fifth  escaped  the  gallows  by  blowing  out  his  brains 
with  some  of  his  own  dynamite. 

The  result  of  the  riot  showed  conclusively  that  the  number  of 
anarchists  in  the  country  was  by  no  means  large,  and  that  the 
great  body  of  American  workingmen  utterly  repudiated  the  use 
of  bombs  in  place  of  ballots  as  a  means  for  securing  rights  or 
rectifying  wrongs. 

548.  Five  important  laws;  bills  vetoed;  the  Fisheries  Contro 
versy.    The  death  of  the  Vice  President  (1885)  led  to  the  passage 
of  a  law  regulating  the  order  of  presidential  succession.    Had  his 
death  been  followed  by  that  of  the  President,  the  country  might 
have  been  left  in  a  very  unsettled  condition,  since  the  Constitution 
(Appendix,  page  xii)  left  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  Congress  and 
Congress  had  taken  no  satisfactory  action  respecting  it. 


1886-1888]      RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION      557 

Congress  now  passed  a  new  Presidential  Succession  Act  (1886). 
It  provided  that  in  case  the  offices  of  President  and  Vice  Presi 
dent  should  both  become  vacant,  the  executive  office  should  pass 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  then,  if  necessary,  to  six  other 
members  of  the  Cabinet  in  a  prescribed  order.1 

The  excited  and  perilous  contest  over  the  disputed  election  of 
1876  (Hayes  versus  Tilden)  (§  531)  induced  Congress  to  pass 
(1887)  the  Electoral  Count  Act,2  which  empowers  each  state,  in 
case  of  controversy,  to  decide  how  its  own  vote  stands  ;  if  it  fails 
to  decide,  the  question  then  comes  before  Congress. 

The  same  Congress  passed  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act8 
(1887)  (§  529).  Under  it  five  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
maintain  a  just  and  uniform  rate  of  transportation  on  all  railway 
and  steamboat  lines  passing  from  state  to  state. 

The  Edmunds  Act  relating  to  the  suppression  of  polygamy 
among  the  Mormons  (§  541)  was  now  supplemented  by  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  Act  (i887).4  It  dissolved  the 
Mormon  Church  as  a  corporate  body,  confiscated  all  of  its 
immense  property  in  excess  of  $50,000,  and  put  it  in  the  hands 
of  trustees,  but  later  restored  it  (§  558). 

The  next  year  (1888)  Congress  passed  a  new  Chinese  Immi 
gration  Act  (§541)  (reenacted  in  1892  and  in  I9O2),6  which  abso 
lutely  excluded  further  immigrants  from  that  empire. 

During  his  administration  President  Cleveland  vetoed  more 
than  three  hundred  bills,  or  more  than  double  the  number 
which  had  been  vetoed  by  all  preceding  Presidents.  These 


1  The  first  Presidential  Succession  Act,  passed  in  1792,  provided  that  in  case  the 
President  and  Vice  President  should  both  be  removed,  the  succession  should  devolve 
on  the  person  acting  as  President  of  the  Senate,  and  next  on  the  Speaker  of  the  House. 
The  present  order  of  succession  is  as  follows:   (i)  the  Secretary  of  State;  (2)  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  (3)  the  Secretary  of  War ;  (4)  the  Attorney-General ; 
(5)  the  Postmaster-General ;  (6)  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;   (7)  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.     The  Cabinet  was  enlarged  in  1889  so  as  to  include  the  Secretary  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  and  in  1903  the  Secretary  of  the  new  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor  was  made  a  member  of  the  Cabinet. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  113. 

8  Ibid.,  No.  114.  4  Ibid.,  No.  118.  5  Ibid.,  No.  119. 


558          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1887 

vetoes  covered  the  Dependent  Pension  Bill  (iSSy)1  and  several 
hundred  private  pension  bills.  The  President  gave  as  his  rea 
sons  for  refusing  to  sign  the  first  measure  that  (i)  it  was  badly 
drawn  and  would  lead  to  litigation ;  (2)  that  the  Union  soldiers 
had  been  better  provided  for  by  pay  and  bounties  than  any  other 
soldiers  "  since  mankind  first  went  to  war,"  and  that  those  who 
had  been  disabled  in  service  were  receiving  liberal  pensions, 
amounting  to  $75,000,000  a  year;  finally,  (3)  that  the  bill  would 
subject  the  taxpayers  of  the  country  to  an  enormous  additional 
expense. 

Congress  failed  to  pass  the  measure  over  the  veto,  but  it  was 
passed  and  approved  under  the  next  administration  (1890). 2  One 
of  President  Cleveland's  last  acts  was  to  veto  the  Direct  Tax- 
Refunding  Bill,  for  reducing  the  surplus  by  refunding  $16,000,000 
collected  in  behalf  of  the  Union  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 
The  bill  was  finally  passed  under  the  next  administration  (1891). 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  fisheries  controversy  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  temporarily  settled  in 
J877  (§  526).  In  1885  the  President  notified  the  English  gov 
ernment  that  we  desired  to  abrogate  the  articles  of  the  Treaty  of 
Washington  relating  to  this  subject.  This  was  done,  and  the  right 
of  American  vessels  to  take  fish  in  Canadian  or  Newfoundland 
waters  became  again  a  matter  of  dispute. 

The  real  difficulty  was  to  determine  the  three-mile  line  of  coast 
limitation  (originally  adopted  by  the  Convention  of  1818)  which 
both  governments  held  as  in  some  sense  binding.  It  was  agreed 
that  we  should  not  fish  within  this  line,  but  the  question  was  how 
it  was  to  be  drawn.  We  assumed  that  it  should  follow  the  curves 
and  indentations  of  the  shores  of  the  fishing  grounds ;  but  England 

1  This  bill  pensioned  all  who  served  ninety  days  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
and  had  been  honorably  discharged,  and  who  were  unable  to  perform  manual  labor, 
and  the  widows,  children,  and  dependent  parents  of  such  persons.  Previous  acts 
(1862-1879)  had  provided  pensions  for  soldiers  and  sailors  disabled  in  the  Civil 
War,  for  the  dependent  kinsmen  of  those  who  had  died,  and  back  pay  on  all  pensions 
claimed  in  1879  and  subsequently.  See  Richardson's  Messages  of  the  Presidents, 
VIII,  549.  2  See  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia  for  1890,  234. 


1887-]        RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         559 

insisted  that,  in  all  cases,  it  should  be  drawn  straight  from  head 
land  to  headland,  thus  excluding  our  vessels  from  entering  bays 
or  inlets.  This  important  difference  of  opinion  could  not  be 
settled,  and  it  still  remains  open  to  negotiation. 

549.  Increase  of  the  navy;  centennial  celebration.    The  navy 
which  had  done  such  noble  service  in  the  Civil  War  was  rapidly 
falling  into  decay.     Congress  took  the  matter  in  hand   (1883) 
by    ordering  the  construction  of   a  number   of   first-class    steel 
cruisers.    At  present  the  United  States  has  a  fleet  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty-two  war  vessels  (besides  forty-five  in  construction   or 
authorized),  which  in  point  of  efficiency  and  speed  equal  any  in 
the  world.1 

The  autumn  of  1887  completed  the  one  hundredth  birthday 
of  the  Constitution  (§  247).  At  the  celebration  held  at  Phila 
delphia  the  President  delivered  an  address  on  the  great  charter 
of  the  Republic.  "  We  receive  it,"  said  he,  "  sealed  with  the 
tests  of  a  century.  It  has  been  found  sufficient  in  the  past ;  and 
in  all  the  future  years  it  will  be  found  sufficient  if  the  American 
people  are  true  to  their  sacred  trust." 

The  following  year  (1888)  the  centennial  of  the  settlement  of 
Ohio  (§  258)  and  of  the  organization  of  the  Northwest  Territory 
(§  237)  was  celebrated  at  Marietta,  Cincinnati,  and  Columbus. 

550.  The  presidential  election  (1888) ;  the  Australian  ballot. 
In  the  presidential  campaign  the  Democrats  made  "  tariff  reform  " 
—  in  other  words,  "  the  reduction  and  correction  of  the  burdens  of 
taxation  "  —  the  principal  plank  in  their  platform.     They  renom- 
inated  Cleveland  for  President,  with  Allen  G.  Thurman  of  Ohio 
for  Vice  President. 

The  Republicans  declared  themselves  "uncompromisingly  in 
favor  of  the  American  system  of  protection."  They  nominated 
General  Benjamin  Harrison  of  Indiana  for  President  and  Levi  P. 
Morton  of  New  York  for  Vice  President. 

1  This  fleet  includes  16  armored  battle  ships,  2  armored  cruisers,  13  turret  moni 
tors,  17  unarmored  steel  vessels,  and  204  other  vessels  comprising  rams,  gunboats, 
torpedo  boats,  auxiliary  cruisers,  submarine  vessels,  and  torpedo-boat  destroyers. 


560          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1889- 

The  issue  at  the  election  was  the  question  of  the  adoption  of 
a  revenue  or  of  a  protective  tariff.  The  electoral  vote  stood 
233  for  Harrison  to  168  for  Cleveland;  the  popular  vote  was 
5,540,329  for  Cleveland  and  5,439,853  for  Harrison.1 

In  1889  Massachusetts  resolved  to  introduce,  for  the  first  time 
in  American  history,  the  Australian  or  secret  ballot.  It  was 
found  to  possess  great  merit  in  securing  independent  action  on 
the  part  of  voters.  Other  states  soon  began  to  adopt  it  or  some 
method  suggested  by  it,  and  such  ballots  are  now  in  use  for  both 
local  and  national  elections  in  forty-two  states.2 

551.  Summary.  The  principal  events  of  Cleveland's  adminis 
tration  were  :  (i)  the  anarchist  riot  in  Chicago;  (2)  the  passage 
of  the  five  following  important  laws  :  the  Presidential  Succession, 
Electoral  Count,  Interstate  Commerce,  Dissolution  of  the  Mor 
mon  Church,  and  Chinese  Immigration  Acts  ;  (3)  the  President's 
veto  of  the  Dependent  Pension  and  Tax- Refunding  Bills ;  (4)  the 
recovering  of  many  millions  of  acres  of  public  lands ;  (5)  the 
increase  of  the  navy;  (6)  the  introduction  of  the  Australian  or 
secret  ballot ;  (7)  the  Fisheries  Controversy;  and  (8)  the  celebra 
tion  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON  (REPUBLICAN),  ONE  TERM 
(1889-1893) 

552.   "  Protection  "  and  the  South;  opening  of  Oklahoma.    In 

his  inaugural  address  President  Harrison  (§  550)  said,  "I  look 
hopefully  to  the  continuance   of  our   protective   system  and  to 

1  See  McKee's  National  Conventions  and  Platforms,  232-259. 

2  The  claims  made  for  the  Australian  or  secret  ballot  are:   (i)  that  it  facilitates 
independent  nominations  for  office ;  (2)  that  the  ballots  are  officially  printed ;  (3)  that 
they  are  distributed  to  voters  by  sworn  election  officers ;  (4)  that  the  voter  is  isolated 
while  preparing  his  ballot,  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  know  how  he  votes, 
and  hence  that  opportunities  for  fraud,  intimidation,  or  bribery  are  thereby  greatly 
diminished.     For  qualifications  for  voting  see  the  World  Almanac  for  1904,  92. 


1889-]        RECONSTRUCTION,   THE    NEW   NATION          561 

the  consequent  development  of  manufacturing  and  mining  enter 
prises  in  the  states  hitherto  wholly  given  to  agriculture,  as  a 
potent  influence  in  the  perfect  unification  of  our  people." 

The  region  called  by  the  Indians  Oklahoma,  or  the  "  beautiful 
land,"  constituted  the  heart  of  the  Indian  Territory.  The  whites 
coveted  it,  and  "boomers"  had  made  repeated  attempts  to  take 
forcible  possession.  In  1889  the  government  purchased  this  tract 
of  land  from  the  Indians. 

The  President  declared  that  it  would  b'e  thrown  open  to  settle 
ment  on  April  22.  At  noon  of  that  day  the  blast  of  a  bugle  was 
the  signal  for  "  a  wild  rush  across  the  borders."  Before  night 
fall  more  than  50,000  emigrants  had  entered  the  new  territory. 
Towns  of  tents  and  portable  houses  sprang  up  in  a  day,  and  a 
few  months  later  Guthrie,  the  capital,  could  boast  of  its  four 
daily  papers,  its  six  banks,  its  city  waterworks,  street  cars,  and 
electric  lights. 

553.  The  Washington  Centennial ;  the  Pan-American  Congress; 
admission  of  six  new  states ;  woman  suffrage.  A  week  after  the 
opening  of  Oklahoma  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  inaugu 
ration  of  Washington  was  celebrated  in  New  York  City  (§  249). 

In  the  autumn  (1889)  the  Pan-American  Congress  met  in 
Washington.  It  consisted  of  delegates  from  the  leading  South 
American  Republics  and  the  Republic  cf  Mexico,  who  met  dele 
gates  appointed  by  the  United  States,  with  the  view  of  forming  a 
closer  political  and  commercial  union. 

The  following  month  (November,  1889)  four  new  states,  North 
Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washington,  were  admitted 
to  the  Union.  The  next  summer  (1890)  Idaho  and  Wyoming 
were  added,  making  the  total  number  forty-four.  Wyoming  was 
the  first  state  admitted  to  the  Union  with  a  constitution  granting 
equal  rights  of  suffrage  and  complete  political  equality  to  women. 
Colorado,  Utah,  and  Idaho  have  since  adopted  similar  constitu 
tions;  in  1894  Colorado  elected  three  women  to  the  Legislature.1 

1  Woman  Suffrage.  Twenty-seven  states  (1904)  recognize  woman  suffrage  in 
some  form  j  of  these  states  20  give  women  school  suffrage ;  i  (Kansas),  full  municipal 


562          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1889- 

554.  A  Century  of  Progress  (1789-1889).  Let  us  pause  here 
for  a  moment  and  see  what  a  century  accomplished  in  the  devel 
opment  of  our  national  history. 

1.  Extent  of  national  territory.    When  Washington   entered 
office  in  1789  (§  249)  we  were  a  poor  and  struggling  people,  weak 
in  numbers  and  having  a  comparatively  small  territory. 

On  the  north  the  boundary  line  between  Maine  and  Canada 
was  disputed  ground  (§  380).  Furthermore,  British  garrisons  still 
held  forts  within  our  frontier  at  Oswego,  Niagara,  Detroit,  and 
Mackinaw  (§  249).  On  the  south  Spain  held  the  entire  shore  of 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  For  this  reason  we  had  neither  a  foot 
hold  nor  a  port  of  any  kind  on  the  coast  of  the  "  American  Medi 
terranean."  On  the  west  the  United  States  was  bounded  by  the 
Mississippi,  which,  with  all  the  vast  region  extending  beyond  it, 
was  in  the  grasp  of  Spain,  and  Spain  was  then  an  unfriendly  power 
(see  map  facing  page  226).  But  by  the  time  the  century  had 
run  a  little  more  than  half  of  its  course  all  these  conditions  had 
changed  to  our  advantage. 

The  dispute  over  the  northern  boundary  line  had  been  satis 
factorily  settled  (§  380)  and  the  forts  on  the  frontier  evacuated 
(§  265).  On  the  south  the  United  States  had  extended  its  pos 
sessions  so  as  to  embrace  the  entire  circle  of  the  coast  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  (§§  318,  384).  On  the  west  we  had  obtained  full  pos 
session  of  the  Mississippi  from  source  to  mouth,  and  had  made 
the  Rocky  Mountains  (§  280)  and  finally  the  Pacific  our  national 
boundary  (§§  283,  403). 

2.  Population  and  wealth.    Our  population   and   our  wealth 
had  increased  enormously.     In   1789  the  white  citizens  of  the 
Republic  numbered  far  less  than  those  of  either  Ohio  or  Illinois 
a  hundred  years  later  (§§  258,  556).    Then  neither  of  those  great 

suffrage;  2  (Arkansas  and  Mississippi),  liquor  license  suffrage  by  petition;  and 
4  (Wyoming,  Colorado,  Utah,  and  Idaho),  full  suffrage  and  right  to  hold  office. 
(From  information  furnished  by  Henry  B.  Blackwell,  editor  of  the  Woman's 
Journal.) 


1889]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION          563 

and  prosperous  states  had  been  carved  out  of  the  "Wilderness  " 
which  stretched  westward  from  the  Alleghenies  to  the  Mississippi 
(§258). 

When  the  eleventh  census  was  taken  (1890)  our  population 
had  multiplied  more  than  fifteen  fold  (§  556),  and  the  "Wilder 
ness  "  existed  only  in  the  memory  of  a  few  white-haired  old  men 
who  had  helped  to  settle  it.  Our  revenue,  which  in  1789  was  only 
about  $4,000,000,  had  risen  to  over  $400,000,000  by  the  end  of 
the  century  we  are  considering. 

3.  Acquisition  of  political  rights.    Again,  when  the  first  Pres 
ident  was   elected   (§  247)   only   a  very  small  per  cent  of   the 
population  had  the  right  to  vote.     With  a  very  few  exceptions, 
all  of  the  thirteen  states  hedged  round  that  right  with  a  property 
qualification.     Land  was  the  basis  of  the  ballot ;  without  land 
manhood  seldom  had  political  power.    In  addition  to  this  property 
qualification  a  majority  of  the  thirteen  states  imposed  a  religious 
restriction  on  the  voter.    In  some  cases  they  required  him  to  be  a 
Protestant  and  a  church  member.1 

The  same  system  prevailed  as  regards  candidacy  for  the  Legis 
lature  or  for  the  office  of  governor.2  "  The  poor  man  counted 
for  nothing.  He  was  governed,  but  not  with  his  consent,  by  his 
property-owning  Christian  neighbors."3 

As  the  nation  grew  in  population  and  spread  westward  across 
the  continent  these  property  and  religious  qualifications  for  voters 
and  office- holders  gradually  disappeared  from  the  statute  books. 
Long  before  the  century  came  to  an  end  they  had  vanished  in  all 
but  four  states  of  the  Union,  and  their  constitutions  had  been 
made  a  generation  earlier.  The  ballot  now  belonged  of  right  to 
the  man  himself,  instead  of  being  a  privilege  dependent  on  what 
the  man  owned. 

4.  Constitutional  decisions  by   the  Supreme    Court.    Another 
change  which  had  come  about  was  that  which  the  United  States 

1  See  Thorpe's  Constitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  I,  93-97. 

2  Ibid.,  I,  68,  77,  82. 

3  See  McMaster's  Lectures  on  the  Acquisition  of  Rights,  18-21. 


564          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1889 

Supreme  Court  had  wrought.  When  Washington  became  Presi 
dent  it  was  a  question  whether  supreme  authority  inhered  in 
the  federal  government  or  in  the  states.  Chief  Justice  Marshall 
answered  that  question  and  others  which  hinged  on  it.  In  a  series 
of  luminous  decisions  (§  275)  he  interpreted  the  spirit  as  well  as 
the  letter  of  the  Constitution.  He  demonstrated  the  truth  that 
the  Constitution  is  "  the  paramount  law  of  the  land."  He  denned 
national  sovereignty,  state  rights,  and  the  limits  of  Congressional 
and  judicial  power.  He  laid  down  the  principle  of  national  sov 
ereignty  with  absolute  clearness,  but  he  also  recognized  the  fact 
that  a  state  is  as  supreme  within  its  own  sphere  as  is  Congress  in 
the  affairs  of  the  whole  Republic.1  These  decisions  led  up  to  that 
memorable  one  which  Chief  Justice  Chase  delivered  after  the 
Civil  War,  when  he  declared  the  nation  and  the  states  to  be  alike 
indissoluble  (§  509). 2 

5.  Education.    Furthermore,   in   the  course   of    the    hundred 
years  under  consideration,  the  United  States  had  made  as  great 
progress  in  the  advancement  of  education  as  it  had  in  the  inter 
pretation  of  the  Constitution  or  in  the  extension  of  the  elective 
franchise.     Free  schools  in  the  modern  sense  of  that  term  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  existed  in  Washington's  day  (§§  93,  180) ; 
but  long  before  the  end  of  the  century  they  had  become  practically 
universal.     In  addition  to  what  the  individual  states  did  for  their 
maintenance  and  encouragement,  the  national  government  con 
tributed   large   grants   of  lands   (§§  279,    339).-*    The  aggregate 
amount  of  these  grants  covered  many  thousand  square  miles,  and 
they  were  destined,  later,  to  equal  in  extent  the  entire  area  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.8    No  nation  of  Europe  has  ever  endowed 
its  institutions  of  learning  as  the  United  States  has  endowed  its 
common  schools.    These  are  investments  which  can  never  depre 
ciate  in  value,  and  which  will  yield  dividends  for  all  time. 

6.  Acquisition  of  industrial  rights.    Once  more,  when  Wash 
ington  entered  office,  industrial  rights  as  we  now  understand  them 

1  See  Thorpe's  Short  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  ch.  xi. 

2  Texas  vs.  White  (1868).       3  The  total  grants  now  exceed  125,000  square  miles. 


1889-1890]     RECONSTRUCTION,   THE    NEW   NATION       565 

were  unknown.  Skilled  labor  could  not  form  unions  for  the 
advancement  of  its  interests.  The  courts  forbade  such  combi 
nations.1  But  as  the  century  moved  onward  all  this  changed,  and 
labor  obtained  the  power  to  organize  in  its  own  behalf  (§  526). 
These  instances  show  some  of  the  geographical,  political,  intel 
lectual,  industrial,  and  economic  gains  which  the  Republic  made 
in  three  generations. 

7.  The  abolition  of  slavery.  But  it  made  one  more  which  in 
magnitude  equals  if  it  does  not  exceed  all  which  we  have  men 
tioned.  The  last  generation  of  the  century  disposed  of  a  question 
which  had  vexed  and  threatened  the  Republic  from  Washington's 
day  to  Lincoln's.  It  put  an  end  to  slavery,  and,  by  so  doing, 
formed  a  new  Union  having  freedom  for  its  corner  stone. 

555.  The  new  Pension  Act;  the  Sherman  Silver  Act;  the 
McKinley  Tariff.  In  accordance  with  the  earnest  recommenda 
tion  of  President  Harrison,  Congress  passed  (1890)  the  Depend 
ent  Pension  Bill 2  which  had  been  vetoed  under  the  preceding 
administration  (§  548).  This  act  nearly  doubled  the  list  of 
pensioners,  making  the  entire  number  about  a  million.  The  dis 
bursements  in  pensions  from  1861  to  1889  amounted  to  nearly 
$1,000,000,000;  in  the  eight  years  before  the  Spanish  War 
(1889-1897)  more  than  $1,000,000,000  was  expended,  making 
a  total  of  over  $2,000,000,000.  The  total  amount  paid  in  pen 
sions  up  to  1904,  inclusive,  was  upwards  of  $3,000,000,000.  The 
present  rate  of  disbursement  for  the  same  purpose  is,  in  round 
numbers,  $139,000,000  a  year,  or  over  $380,000  a  day. 

The  same  Congress  repealed  the  Bland-Allison  Silver  Coinage 
Act  (§535)  and  passed  (July  14,  1890)  the  Sherman  Silver 
Purchase  and  Coinage  Act.3  It  directed  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States  to  buy  4,500,000  ounces,  or  about  140  tons, 

1  See  McMaster's  Lectures  on  the  Acquisition  of  Rights,  56-60 ;  and  Carroll  D. 
Wright  on  "  Consolidated  Labor,"  in  the  North  American  Review  for  January,  1902, 

2  See  United  States  Statutes  at  Large  for  1890,  or  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia 
for  1890,  234. 

3  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  121  ;  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the 
United  States,  436;  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  329,  347. 


566          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY'         [1890 

avoirdupois,  of  silver  each  month,  and  ordered  2,000,000  ounces 
to  be  coined  into  dollars  each  month  until  July  i,  1891,  and 
thereafter  as  might  be  deemed  necessary. 

Senator  Sherman,  the  reputed  author  of  the  law,  says,  "  A 
large  majority  of  the  Senate  favored  free  silver,  and  this  bill 
was  prepared  to  prevent  the  passage  of  an  act  for  free  silver 
coinage"  (§§  255,  528).  The  friends  of  silver  believed  that  this 
enormous  monthly  purchase  of  that  metal  by  the  government 
would  advance  its  market  value ;  it  did  for  a  few  weeks,  after 
which  it  continued  to  steadily  decline.1 

Early  in  the  autumn  of  1890  Congress  passed  the  McKinley 
Tariff.2  One  chief  object  of  this  act  was  to  reduce  the  rev 
enue,  then  largely  in  excess  of  our  demands,  and  to  secure  to  the 

1  The  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  was  originally  (§  255)  free  and  unlimited  to  all 
persons  bringing  bullion  to  the  mint.    In  1873  silyer  was  demonetized  (§  528) ;  but 
the  free  coinage  of  gold  continued.     The  metal  in  the  silver  dollar  was  then  worth 
$1.004,  or  a  fraction  more  than  the  gold  dollar;  by  1878,  when  the  Bland-Allison 
Silver  Coinage  Bill  passed  (§  535),  it  had  fallen  to  89  cents  and  a  fraction;  in  1890, 
when  the  Sherman  Silver  Purchase  Act  was  passed,  it  had  fallen  to  81  cents;  there 
after  it  continued  to  fall  until,  when  the  Sherman  Act  was  repealed  in  1893,  it  stood 
at  51  cents  and  a  fraction.    The  Director  of  the  United  States  Mint  (Report  for  1893) 
attributed  the  fall  in  the  price  of  silver  partly  to  the  fact  that  a  number  of  the  lead 
ing  nations  of  Europe  had  ceased  coining  it  except  in  small  sums,  but  mainly  to  the 
enormous  increase  in  the  output  of  the  metal.    In  1873  the  total  production  was 
$81,800,000;  by  1892  it  had  risen  to  $196,605,000,  —  an  increase  of  140  per  cent. 

On  the  other  hand,  Senator  Jones,  the  great  silver-mine  owner  of  Nevada,  and 
President  Andrews  of  Brown  University  contended  that  silver  had  not  actually  fallen 
in  value  or  in  purchasing  power,  but  that  there  had  been  a  "  ruinously  great "  rise  in 
gold.  See  Senator  Jones'  speech  in  Johnston's  American  Orations,  IV,  362  ;  Andrews' 
United  States,  II,  276;  and  Prof.  Francis  A.  Walker's  writings  advocating  inter 
national  bimetallism. 

Up  to  1873  only  about  $8,000,000  in  silver  dollars  had  been  coined,  and  at  that 
date  none  were  in  circulation  and  had  not  been  for  many  years.  On  the  first  of 
October,  1896,  the  total  issue  of  silver  dollars  was  over  $437,000,000,  besides  $75,- 
000,000  in  subsidiary  silver.  A  very  large  amount  of  silver  bullion,  estimated  to  be 
worth  over  $125,000,000,  then  remained  uncoined.  The  total  gold  coinage  to  June 
30,  1900,  was  $2,167,088,113.  The  total  amount  of  coin,  notes,  and  bullion  in 
"general  stock"  on  October  i,  1900,  was  $2,386,450,355.  The  total  amount  of 
specie,  government  paper,  and  national  bank  notes  in  circulation  January  i,  1901, 
was  $2,173,251,879,  or  more  than  $28  per  capita,  according  to  the  census  returns 
of  1900.  See  the  World  Almanac,  1901,  185,  186;  Current  History,  March, 
1901,  73. 

2  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  438, 


1890]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         567 

American  farmer  protection  against  competition  equal  to  that 
granted  to  the  American  manufacturer.  The  duties  under  the  new 
tariff  averaged  48  -^  per  cent,  —  the  highest  ever  imposed  up  to 
that  date.  The  act  contained  certain  provisions  called  Reci 
procity  or  "  Fair  Trade  "  Measures.  They  gave  the  President  power 
to  reimpose  duties  on  certain  articles  on  the  free  list  in  case  he 
thought  that  the  countries  exporting  those  articles  to  the  United 
States  levied  unreasonable  duties  on  imports  of  American  agricul 
tural  products.  This  provision  led 'to  the  negotiation  of  commer 
cial  treaties  with  a  number  of  European  and  South  American 
countries. 

556.  The  census  of  1890;  no  "  frontier  line  "  ;  the  Patent  Office 
Centennial.  The  "  Centennial  Census  "  (1890)  reported  the  total 
area  of  the  United  States,  including  Alaska,  at  over  3,600,000 
square  miles,  and  the  total  population  (Indians  not  included)  at 
62,622,250. 

In  a  single  century  we  had  gained  58,000,000  in  population, 
had  taken  possession  of  the  entire  breadth  of  the  continent,  and 
had  accumulated  wealth  sufficient,  if  equally  divided,  to  give 
$1000  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  Union. 

The  census  of  1890  also  reported,  for  the  first  time  in  our 
national  history,  that  no  frontier  line  of  settlements  existed  in 
the  West.  That  meant  that  there  were  no  longer  any  clearly 
defined  spaces  destitute  of  population  except  in  barren  regions 
which  repelled  the  farmer  and  the  stock  raiser.  The  great  Ameri 
can  march  toward  the  setting  sun  which  began  in  earnest  with 
the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  (§§  278,  339)  had  prac 
tically  come  to  an  end. 

Henceforth  the  West  would  cease  to  mean  opportunity  in  the 
sense  it  had  meant  it  for  so  many  generations.  The  United  States 
still  owned  hundreds  of  millions  of  acres  of  mineral  lands,  and  of 
arid  lands  which  might  be  fertilized  by  irrigation,  but  that  was  all. 
It  had  no  more  free  farms  to  offer  to  those  men  who  once  went  out 
to  build  up  independent  homes  for  themselves  and  their  children 
in  the  unknown  wilderness. 


568        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1890-1891 

The  progress  of  that  great  movement  can  be  traced  on  govern 
ment  maps  from  decade  to  decade,  beginning  with  the  first  census 
of  1790.  Then  the  emigrants  from  the  eastern  states  had  only 
just  crossed  the  Alleghenies.  On  the  map  of  1800  (see  map 
facing  page  268)  we  see  that  they  had  entered  the  Ohio  Country 
and  were  getting  possession  of  Kentucky.  By  1810  a  few  settlers 
had  reached  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  opposite  St.  Louis,  and 
were  crossing  over  the  great  river.  But  in  the  northwest  the  prog 
ress  was  slower  and  it  took  forty  years  more  for  the  sturdy  pioneers 
to  reach  the  western  boundary  of  Iowa. 

Then  came  another  forty  years'  march  across  the  plains  of 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  toward  the  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Finally,  in  1890,  the  bearers  of  the  ax  and  the  rifle  met  the  settlers 
who  were  moving  eastward  from  the  Pacific  states.  The  work  of 
the  pioneers  was  completed.  The  men  whose  grim  energy  and 
stalwart  faith  in  their  own  manhood  had  found  fit  representation 
in  Jackson  and  Lincoln  came  to  a  halt.  They  had  conquered  the 
wilderness  which  Jefferson  thought  it  would  take  a  thousand  years 
to  conquer,  and  they  had  planted  it  with  free  states.  There  is  no 
more  interesting  chapter  in  American  history  than  the  progress  of 
this  movement  across  the  continent.1 

The  following  year  (1891)  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington  was  celebrated.  Dur 
ing  the  century  of  its  existence  the  office  had  issued  more  than 
450,000  patents.  These  cover  well-nigh  the  whole  field  of  human 
industry.  They  began  with  the  first  patent  issued  in  1790  for 
improved  methods  of  making  pearlash  and  potash  —  which  was 
often  the  first  crop  which  the  men  who  cleared  the  wilderness  got 
from  the  soil2 — and  they  came  down  to  those  for  the  electric 
motors  of  the  present  day.  A  large  proportion  of  patents  are  for 

1  See  "  Frontier"  in  index  to  Thorpe's  Constitutional  History  of  the  American 
People  and  in  Sample's  American   History  and  its   Geographic  Conditions;    see 
too  Prof.  F.  J.  Turner's  "  Contribution  of  the  West  to  American  Democracy,"  in 
the  Atlantic  Magazine,  January,  1903. 

2  In  early  days  the  backwoodsmen  burned  their  timber  and  made  pearlash  and 
potash  from  the  ashes.     These  products  brought  ready  money  in  the  market. 


1892-1893]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION       569 

new  or  improved  labor-saving  inventions.  Carroll  D.  Wright  tes 
tifies  that  American  machinery  has  shortened  the  hours  of  work, 
increased  the  workman's  wages,  and  reduced  the  prices  he  pays 
for  all  kinds  of  manufactured  goods. 

557.  Labor  troubles  at  Homestead.    In  the  summer  of  1892  the 
Carnegie  Steel  Company  at  Homestead  near  Pittsburg  gave  notice 
that  it  should  be  compelled  to  reduce  the  pay  of  its  employees,  — 
more  than  three  thousand  in  number.     The  men  refused  to  accept 
the  reduction  and  hanged  the  president  of  the  company  in  effigy. 
Thereupon  the  company  shut  its  doors  two  days  before  the  contract 
time  expired. 

The  discharged  men  took  possession  of  the  works  and  refused 
to  give  them  up.  The  company  hired  a  strong  body  of  armed 
Pinkerton  detectives  to  dislodge  them.  A  battle  ensued  in  which 
a  number  were  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides,  and  the  Pinker- 
tons  were  compelled  to  surrender.  The  governor  of  Pennsylvania 
sent  the  entire  militia  force  of  the  state  to  Homestead  to  restore 
order.  The  Carnegie  Company  then  opened  their  mills  with  new 
men.  The  strike  lasted  about  twenty  weeks ;  it  cost  the  company, 
the  strikers,  and  the  public  an  average  of  more  than  $200,000  a 
week,  or  a  total  of  $4,325,000. 

558.  The  Supreme  Court  and  the  Mormon  Church ;  amnesty  to 
the  Mormons.     In  1890   the  United  States  Supreme  Court  had 
affirmed  the  constitutionality  of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  Law  (§  548) 
confiscating  the  property  of  the  Mormon  Church.     A  few  months 
later,  the  head  of  that  church  publicly  advised  his  followers  to 
obey  the  law  and  renounce  polygamy.     A  general  conference  held 
at  Salt  Lake  City  (1890)  pledged  the  whole  body  of  Mormons  to 
accept  the  advice  of  their  president.     Thereupon  President  Har 
rison  issued  a  proclamation  of  amnesty  (1893)  to  the  Mormons 
and  the  confiscated  church  property  was  restored. 

559.  The  presidential  election   (1892).    The  chief  issue  in  the 
presidential  campaign  was  the  tariff  question.     The  Republicans 
reaffirmed  "  the  American  doctrine  of  Protection  "  and  renomi- 
nated  President  Harrison,  with  Whitelaw  Reid  of  New  York  for 
Vice  President. 


570          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

The  Democrats  denounced  protection  as  "  a  robbery  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  American  people  for  the  benefit  of  the  few."  They 
demanded  a  tariff  for  revenue  only  and  nominated  ex-President 
Cleveland,  with  Adlai  E.  Stevenson  of  Illinois  for  Vice  President. 

The  National  People's  party,  or  "  Populists"  (§  529),  now  held 
their  first  National  Convention  (1892).  They  demanded  free  and 
unlimited  silver  coinage  (§  555)  in  the  ratio  of  16  to  i  (§  255)  and 
a  speedy  increase  in  the  issue  of  money  to  not  less  than  $50  per 
capita  (§555,  note).  The  remaining  planks  in  their  platform  did 
not  differ  very  essentially  from  the  socialist  features  of  those  of  the 
Labor  party  or  of  the  "  Grangers  "  (§§  527,  529).  The  "  Popu 
lists"  nominated  General  James  B.  Weaver  of  Iowa  for  President 
and  James  G.  Field  of  Virginia  for  Vice  President. 

In  the  five  states  of  Kansas,  Colorado,  Idaho,  North  Dakota,  and 
Wyoming  the  Democrats  voted  for  the  "  Populist"  candidate. 

At  the  election  Cleveland  received  277  electoral  votes,  Harrison 
145,  and  Weaver  22.  The  popular  vote  stood  5,556,543  for 
Cleveland,  5,175,582  for  Harrison,  and  1,040,886  for  Weaver. 

560.  Summary.    The  principal  events  of  Harrison's  administra 
tion  were  the  passage  of  the  Dependent  Pension  Act,  the  Sherman 
Silver  Act,  and  the  McKinley  Protective  Tariff.     Six  states  were 
admitted,  one  with  woman  suffrage;  and  the  first  vessels  of  our 
new   steel  navy  were  built.     The  Washington   Centennial,   the 
Census   Report  with  its  "no   frontier   line,"    the   Patent   Office 
Celebration,  the  Homestead  Strike,  and  the  appearance  of  the 
"  Populists  "  in  national  politics  also  demand  notice. 

GROVER  CLEVELAND  (DEMOCRAT),   SECOND  TERM 
(1893-1897) 

561.  Cleveland's  inaugural  address;  the  Columbus  celebration; 
the  Columbian  Exposition.    On  the  4th  of  March,  1893,  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  came  into  full  control  of  all  departments  of  the 
national  government.    In  the  inaugural  address  of  his  second  term 
of  office  (§559)  President  Cleveland  dwelt  mainly  on  the  necessity 


O 


s:.*v:3V       .'•' 


THE 
UNITED    STATES 


1893]  RECONSTRUCTION,   THE    NEW   NATION          571 

of  a  "sound  and  stable  currency"  and  of  "tariff  reform."  He 
urged  that  there  should  be  no  more  "  protection  for  protection's 
sake,"  and  called  on  the  people  to  support  the  government  instead 
of  looking  to  the  government  to  support  them. 

The  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  America  by 
Columbus  had  been  celebrated  (1892)  in  the  schools  throughout 
the  United  States.  The  celebration  was  resumed  in  the  spring  of 
1893  by  an  international  naval  review  held  in  New  York  harbor. 
This  pageant  was  preliminary  to  the  opening  of  the  "  Columbian 
Exposition  "  at  Chicago  on  the  first  of  May.  The  exposition  was 
in  every  way  worthy  of  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  planned,  and 
it  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more  magnificent  spectacle 
than  this  greatest  of  world's  fairs  extending  for  two  miles  along 
the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan. 

562.  The  panic  of  1893;  repeal  of  part  of  the  Sherman  Silver 
Act;  the  "Force  Act "  repealed ;  the  Bering  Sea  case.  In  the  midst 
of  the  Columbian  celebration  a  terrible  financial  panic  l  swept 
over  the  country.  Over  three  hundred  banks  suspended  pay 
ment,  business  was  paralyzed,  failures  multiplied,  and  a  fourth  of 
the  railway  capital  of  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  receivers. 
This  occurred  at  a  time  when  the  total  amount  of  silver  stored  in 
the  Treasury  vaults  at  Washington  or  in  circulation  among  the 
people  was  nearly  $600,000,000. 

The  panic  appears  to  have  been  caused  by  the  action  of  foreign 
holders  of  our  stocks  and  government  securities.  They  believed 
that  we  intended  paying  our  debts  in  silver  dollars,  worth  then 
about  67  cents.2  For  this  reason  they  made  haste  to  sell  their 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  444. 

2  In  July,  1892,  the  market  value  of  the  silver  dollar  was  88  cents ;  in  June,  1893, 
the  British  government  closed  the  mints  of  India  to  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  and  the 
market  value  of  the  dollar  speedily  fell  to  67  cents. 

Prof.  Francis  A.  Walker,  an  earnest  advocate  of  international  bimetallism,  took 
the  ground  that  the  only  true  way  to  raise  the  price  of  silver  was  to  induce  the  lead 
ing  powers  of  the  Old  World  to  join  the  United  States  in  remonetizing  that  metal. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Free-Silver  party  contended  that  the  United  States  could  and 
should  act  independently  of  Europe  in  the  matter.  See  Walker's  International 
Bimetallism,  Preface,  et  seq. 


572        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1893-1894 

holdings  at  whatever  price  they  could  get.    This  caused  depression 
and  "  tight  money"  in  New  York  and  throughout  the  country.1 

The  crisis  was  so  alarming  that  the  President  summoned  an 
extra  session  of  Congress  (August  3,  1893)  to  consider  what  should 
be  done.  He  believed  that  the  primary  cause  of  the  panic  was 
the  continued  purchase  and  coinage  by  the  government  of  enor 
mous  quantities  of  silver  in  a  steadily  falling  market  for  that  metal. 
In  accordance  with  the  President's  recommendation  Congress 
proceeded  to  discuss  the  proposed  repeal  of  the  silver-purchase 
clause  in  the  Sherman  Act  (§  555).  Senator  Sherman  himself 
spoke  earnestly  for  that  repeal.2  After  two  months'  debate  it  was 
carried  in  the  Senate  by  a  majority  of  1 1  ;  in  the  House  a  majority 
of  100  voted  for  it,  and  it  at  once  received  the  President's  approval 
(November  i,  i893).3  Congress  later  repealed  the  "  Force  Act " 

(§525). 

A  controversy  had  long  been  going  on  with  England  respecting 
the  infringement  of  our  rights  in  Bering  Sea.  We  claimed  that 
when  we  purchased  Alaska  (§  520)  we  thereby  obtained  the  power 
to  close  that  sea  against  foreign  seal  hunters.  It  had  been  agreed 
to  settle  the  matter  by  arbitration.  The  commission  appointed 
reported  (1893)  that  the  sea  must  remain  open,  but  that  we  had 
the  right  to  take  measures  to  protect  the  seals  at  certain  seasons. 
This  decision  ended  the  dispute. 

563.  The  Coxey  "army"  ;  the  Chicago  strike.  The  panic  and 
business  depression  (§  562)  of  the  winter  of  1893-1894  gave  rise 
to  a  remarkable  movement.  One  Coxey  started  from  Massillon, 
Ohio,  to  lead  an  "army"  of  the  unemployed  to  Washington  to 

1  The  western  "  Populists  "  declared  that  the  panic  was  caused  by  a  conspiracy 
hatched  by  British  and  American  bankers  with  Mr.  Cleveland's  encouragement  for 
the  express  purpose  of  driving  silver  money  out  of  use.    See  Political  Science  Quar 
terly,  December,  1893. 

2  Senator  Sherman  said :  "  The  free  coinage  of  silver  and  gold  at  any  ratio  you 
may  fix  means  the  use  of  the  cheaper  metal  only.  ...     No  man  will  carry  to  the 
mint  one  ounce  of  gold  to  be  coined  into  dollars  when  he  can  carry  sixteen  ounces  of 
silver,  worth  but  little  more  in  the  market  than  half  an  ounce  of  gold,  and  get  the 
same  number  of  dollars."     See  Sherman's  Recollections,  II,  1191. 

«  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  125. 


1894]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         573 

demand  aid  from  the  government.  Coxey's  example  led  to  the 
formation  of  similar  "armies"  in  California  and  other  parts  of 
the  West.  They  forced  freight  trains  to  transport  them  and  lived 
"  tramp  "  fashion  off  the  country  through  which  they  passed  on 
their  way  toward  the  national  capital. 

"  General  "  Coxey  with  his  followers  of  the  "  Commonweal  of 
Christ  "  reached  Washington  the  last  of  April  (1894).  The  police 
forbade  his  addressing  the  people  from  the  steps  of  the  capitol,  and 
the  "  Commonwealers  "  soon  deserted  him.  The  other  "  armies  " 
gradually  broke  up,  and  the  threatened  demonstration  which  had 
drawn  recruits  from  fourteen  states  and  two  territories  ended  in 
derisive  and  decisive  failure. 

About  midsummer  (1894)  the  employees  of  the  Pullman  Car 
Company,  at  the  Pullman  Works  near  Chicago,  struck  against  a 
reduction  of  wages.  The  men  employed  on  the  principal  railways 
radiating  from  Chicago  struck  in  sympathy  and  refused  to  haul 
Pullman  cars.  Serious  riots  ensued,  a  great  amount  of  property 
was  destroyed,  and  the  police  and  the  militia  were  defied.  The 
President  sent  United  States  troops  to  Chicago  to  maintain  com 
merce  between  the  states,  protect  government  buildings,  enforce 
the  decrees  of  the  federal  courts,  and  prevent  interference  with  the 
carrying  of  the  mails.  In  all,  it  required  a  force  of  more  than 
14,000  police,  militia,  and  troops  to  hold  the  strikers  and  the 
mob  effectually  in  check.  The  strike  caused  a  loss  estimated  at 
$87,000,000.  Good  authorities  make  the  total  cost  of  the  three 
great  strikes  of  1877  (§  534)  1892  (§  557),  and  1894  about  $172,- 
000,000,  or  a  loss  of  more  than  $30,000  a  day  for  every  working 
day  of  the  seventeen  years  covering  the  period.1 

564.  Hawaii;  the  Wilson-Gorman  Tariff;  the  income  tax;  the 
Atlanta  Exhibition;  the  "New  South";  the  "New  West."  A 
revolution  occurred  in  Hawaii  early  in  1893,  and  the  revolutionists, 
after  dethroning  the  queen,  opened  negotiations  for  annexation  to 

1  See  Carroll  D.  Wright's  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States,  ch.  xxv- 
xxvi;  The  North  American  Review,  June,  1902;  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia  for 
1877,  1892,  189^. 


5/4        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1894-1895 

the  United  States.  During  this  time  an  American  protectorate 
was  declared.  President  Cleveland  sent  commissioners  to  inves 
tigate  the  condition  of  affairs ;  acting  on  their  report,  he  refused 
to  continue  the  protectorate  or  to  favor  annexation,  but  issued 
a  proclamation  (1894)  recognizing  Hawaii  as  an  independent 
Republic. 

Meanwhile  Congress  was  discussing  the  Wilson-Gorman  Tariff 
for  reducing  "  taxation  "  and  providing  "  revenue."  As  originally 
drawn  it  abolished  duties  on  raw  materials  and  on  the  necessaries 
of  life,  but  in  its  progress  through  the  Senate  the  bill  received  more 
than  six  hundred  amendments.  These  so  changed  its  character 
that  the  President  would  not  give  it  his  approval,  and  it  became 
a  law  without  his  signature  (Appendix,  page  ix,  §  y).1  The  new 
tariff  reduced  the  rate  of  duties  about  1 1  per  cent,  making  the 
average  rate  37  per  cent  (§  555).  Wool  was  the  chief  raw  mate 
rial  it  admitted  free.  An  income  tax  was  appended  to  the  tariff, 
but  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  (1895)  decided  it  to  be 
unconstitutional. 

The  following  autumn  (1895)  the  "  Cotton  States  and  Interna 
tional  Exhibition"  was  held  at  Atlanta.  The  exhibition  showed  the 
marvelous  progress  the  "  New  South"  had  made  since  the  war. 

The  buildings  stood  in  Piedmont  Park  on  the  very  ground  where 
thirty  years  before  Sherman  had  planted  the  batteries  which  threw 
the  first  shell  into  Atlanta.  Since  then  not  only  Atlanta  but  the 
whole  section  it  represented  had  risen  from  its  ruins.  The  South 
was  no  longer  poor  (§§  543,  552);  between  1880  and  1890  its 
valuation  had  increased  nearly  $4,000,000,000.  It  had  ceased  to 
be  a  purely  agricultural  country,  dependent  on  the  North  for  its 
manufactured  goods.  Mills  had  sprung  up  which  spun  and  wove 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  bales  of  cotton,  and  by  the  aid  of 
improved  machinery  a  single  operative  could  in  a  twelvemonth 
produce  cloth  enough  to  supply  1500  persons. 

The  South,  too,  is  naturally  rich  in  iron  and  coal,  but  before  the 
war  these  mineral  treasures  had  scarcely  been  touched.  Now  all 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  455. 


1895]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION          575 

had  changed ;  mines  had  been  opened,  millions  of  tons  of  coal 
had  been  dug,  and  enormous  quantities  of  iron  smelted.1  This 
was  the  work  of  free  labor ;  as  ex-President  Harrison  said  :  "The 
Emancipation  Proclamation  was  heard  in  the  depths  of  the 
earth.  .  .  .  Men  were  made  free  and  material  things  became  our 
better  servants." 

The  intellectual  progress  of  the  South  has  kept  pace  with  her 
material  growth.  Thanks  to  the  labors  of  the  different  religious 
denominations  of  the  country  and  to  the  princely  gifts  of  George 
Peabody,  John  F.  Slater,  and  Paul  Tulane,  schools  and  colleges 
were  opened  for  both  white  and  black  at  a  time  when  the  people 
of  that  section  were  too  poor  to  undertake  such  work  for  them 
selves.  Since  then  the  South  has  raised  and  expended  more  than 
'$400,000,000  on  the  education  of  her  children,  so  that  all  may 
have  an  "  even  start  in  life."  Of  this  sum  the  southern  people 
have  given  a  generous  share  toward  the  maintenance  of  colored 
schools. 

In  this  astonishing  advance  the  negro  has  taken  part.  A  little 
more  than  a  generation  ago  he  had  no  record ;  he  was  simply 
a  drudge  driven  to  his  daily  toil  by  the  overseer's  whip.  He 
"knew  nothing,  owned  nothing,  was  nothing."  The  first  school 
for  freedmen  was  opened  in  the  autumn  of  1861  under  the  guns 
of  Fort  Monroe. 

To-day  over  55  per  cent  of  the  negroes  can  read  and  write,'2  and 
an  increasing  number  are  becoming  property  owners  and  tax 
payers.  It  is  true  that  the  population  of  the  section  known  as  the 
"  Black  Belt"  moves  forward  slowly;  nevertheless  it  moves,  and 
idleness,  ignorance,  and  degradation  are  gradually  giving  way 
to  the  black  man's  desire  to  know  something,  to  do  something,  to 
have  something,  and  to  be  something.  Part  of  this  progress  he 
owes  to  the  lessons  which  he  or  his  ancestors  learned  in  the  hard 
"  school  of  American  slavery,"  3  and  part  to  what  the  South,  with 

1  In  1890  the  South  mined  15,000,000  tons  of  coal  and  smelted  1,600,000  tons  of 
iron  ore ;  since  then  the  production  has  increased  enormously. 

2  See  census  of  1900.  3  See  Booker  T.  Washington's  Up  from  Slavery,  16. 


5/6          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1895 

the  help  of  such  men  as  Booker  T.  Washington,  has  done  and  is 
doing  in  his  behalf. 

If  we  turn  from  the  "  New  South  "  to  the  "  New  West,"  we  find 
growth  in  population,  industrial  enterprise,  and  wealth  without 
a  parallel.  Since  the  war  vast  solitudes  have  been  settled  and 
thousands  of  miles  of  railways  constructed.  Towns  and  cities 
have  sprung  up,  mines  of  precious  metals  have  been  opened,  and 
cattle  and  sheep  ranches  and  grain  farms  established  on  a  colossal 
scale.  On  a  single*  wheat  farm  in  one  of  the  Dakota  states,  a 
man  plows  a  straight  four-mile  furrow.  It  takes  him  from  morn 
ing  to  noon  to  go  down  its  full  length,  and  he  gets  back  to  the 
starting  point  just  in  time  for  supper.  In  Texas  there  are  cattle 
ranches  which  embrace  from  one  to  two  hundred  thousand  acres, 
all  inclosed  by  a  single  wire  fence.  The  westerner  "measures 
things  with  a  big  yardstick."  l 

The  food  products  of  that  section  alone  would  suffice  to  feed 
nearly  the  entire  population  of  the  United  States.  In  1890  the 
live  stock  was  valued  at  over  $1,000,000,000.  A  single  state  pro 
duces  over  sixty  million  bushels  of  wheat  for  its  annual  harvest, 
and  the  mills  of  a  single  city  turn  out  a  hundred  thousand  barrels 
of  flour  a  week. 

565.  The  Venezuela  controversy;  the  Arbitration  Treaty;  admis 
sion  of  Utah  ;  extension  of  civil-service  reform.  For  more  than 
half  a  century  a  controversy  had  existed  between  Venezuela  and 
Great  Britain  respecting  the  boundary  line  of  British  Guiana.  In 
his  third  annual  message  (1895)  President  Cleveland  said  that 
he  should  renew  his  efforts  to  induce  the  disputants  to  settle  the 
question  by  arbitration  in  order  "to  remove  from  this  hemisphere 
all  causes  of  difference  with  powers  beyond  sea."  Great  Britain 
declined  to  accept  the  proposal,  and  the  President  sent  a  special 
message2  to  Congress  (December  17,  1895),  urging  the  applica 
tion  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  (§  331)  to  the  case  and  asking  that  a 
commission  should  be  appointed  to  determine  "  the  true  divisional 

1  See  Semple's  American  History  and  its  Geographic  Conditions,  243. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  126. 


1895-1896]      RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW  NATION        577 

line  between  the  Republic  of  Venezuela  and  British  Guiana." 
A  very  large  part  of  the  American  people  greeted  the  message 
with  enthusiastic  approval,  but  its  warlike  tone  alarmed  the  stock 
market  and  securities  fell  with  panic-like  rapidity. 

Congress  authorized  the  appointment  of  commissioners,  but 
before  they  had  completed  their  labors  Great  Britain  agreed  to 
submit  the  whole  matter  to  arbitration.  This  was  done  under  a 
treaty  made  to  that  effect,  but  the  question  was  not  fully  and 
satisfactorily  settled  until  1899. 

Meanwhile  (1896)  Utah,  having  prohibited  polygamy,  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  Union,  making  the  total  number  of  states  forty-five. 
The  cause  of  civil-service  reform  (§533)  had  been  pushed  for 
ward  by  President  Arthur  and  his  successors  until  the  whole  num 
ber  in  the  classified  service  had  risen  from  about  15,000  to  nearly 
50,000.    In  the  spring  of  1896  President  Cleveland,  by  one  stroke 
of  the  pen,  added  more  than  40,000  positions  or  offices,  raising 
the  total  to  nearly  90,000,  or  about  one  half  of  the  entire  number, 
classified  and  unclassified,  then  in  the  civil  service.     The  party 
which  gained  the  presidential  election  (1896)  pledged  itself  to 
enforce  and  extend  the  Civil  Service  Law  "  wherever  practicable." 
566.  The  presidential  election  (1896) .    The  two  main  questions  at 
issue  were  :  (i)  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver l  (§§  255, 
528,  555)  and  (2)  that  of  a  protective  tariff.     The  Republicans 
declared  themselves  "unreservedly  for  sound  money"  and  unal 
terably  "opposed  to  the  free  coinage  of  silver  except  by  inter 
national  agreement  with  the  leading  commercial  nations  of  the 
world."     They  also  declared  that  "  protection  "  was  "  the  bulwark 
of  American  independence." 

They  nominated  Major  William  McKinley  of  Ohio  for  President, 
with  Garret  A.  Hobart  of  New  Jersey  for  Vice  President. 

On  the  refusal  of  the  Convention  to  adopt  free  silver,  Senator 
Teller  and  twenty  other  delegates,  representing  the  six  states  of 
Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana,   Nevada,  South  Dakota,  and  Utah, 
seceded  from  the  Convention  and  from  the  Republican  party, 
l  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  460. 


578          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1896 

The  industrial  depression  following  the  panic  of  1893  (§§  562, 
563),  the  low  price  of  wheat,  and  the  great  difficulty  many  west 
ern  farmers  experienced  in  raising  money  to  pay  the  interest  on 
their  mortgaged  homes,  all  favored  the  demand  for  silver  cur 
rency  (§§  535,  546,  555,  559,  562).  For  this  reason  the  Demo 
crats  demanded  "  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  both  silver 
and  gold  at  the  present,  legal  ratio  of  i6-to  i,  without  waiting 
for  the  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  nation."  l  They  furthermore 
demanded  that  tariff  duties  should  be  levied  for  revenue  only. 

They  nominated  William  J.  Bryan  of  Nebraska  for  President, 
with  Arthur  Sewall  of  Maine  for  Vice  President. 

A  large  number  of  Democrats  refused  to  support  the  free-silver 
platform.  They  took  the  name  of  the  National  Democratic  party 
and  adopted  a  platform  upholding  "  the  gold  standard."  They 
nominated  John  M.  Palmer  of  Illinois  for  President,  with  Simon 
B.  Buckner  of  Kentucky  for  Vice  President. 

The  People's  party,  or  "  Populists  "  (§§  529,  559),  had  already 
held  their  second  National  Convention.  They  adopted  the  free- 
silver  plank  of  the  Democratic  platform  and  nominated  the  Demo 
cratic  candidate  for  President,  with  Thomas  E.  Watson  of  Georgia 
for  Vice  President.  The  general  tone  of  the  "Populist  "  platform 
decidedly  favored  that  form  of  socialism  in  which  the  nation  or 
the  state  undertakes  to  act  for  the  individual.  They  demanded 
that  the  government  should  own  and  operate  the  railways  and 
telegraph  lines. 

At  the  election  McKinley  received  271  electoral  votes  and 
Bryan  176.  The  popular  vote  stood  7,104,779  for  McKinley  to 
6,502,925  for  Bryan.  Many  thousands  of  "Gold  Democrats" 
cast  their  votes  for  the  Republican  candidate.2 

567.  Summary.  The  chief  political  events  of  President  Cleve 
land's  administration  were  :  (i)  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Silver 
Act  and  the  "  Force  Act  "  ;  (2)  the  Bering  Sea  and  the  Venezuelan 

1  The  bullion  value  of  the  standard  silver  dollar  was  at  that  time  less  than  50  cents. 

2  See  Stanwood's  Presidency,  or  McKee's  National  Conventions  and  Platforms, 
290-329. 


1897]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         579 

arbitration  settlements ;  (3)  the  passage  of  the  Wilson-Gorman 
Tariff;  (4)  the  great  extension  of  civil-service  reform  and  the 
admission  of  Utah  into  the  Union.  Other  events  of  greater  or  less 
importance  were  the  opening  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposi 
tion,  the  exhibition  at  Atlanta,  the  panic  of  1893,  the  march  of 
the  "  Coxey  Army,"  and  the  Chicago  strike. 


WILLIAM  McKiNLEY  (REPUBLICAN),  Two  TERMS 
(1897-1905) 

568.  Inaugural  address ;  the  Dingley  Tariff.  In  his  inaugural 
address  President  McKinley  (§  566)  declared  himself  for  "  sound 
money,"  for  a  new  revenue-protective  tariff,  for  strict  economy 
in  the  management  of  the  government,  for  the  advancement  of 
civil-service  reform,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  with  all 
the  nations  of  the  world. 

The  new  administration  was  called  upon  to  deal  with  a  serious 
deficit  in  the  revenue.  This  deficit  had  been  going  on  since  1894, 
and  it  was  estimated  that  it  would  amount  to  $200,000,000  in 
1897.  The  pressing  need  of  money  to  meet  the  current  expenses 
of  the  government  compelled  the  President  to  send  a  special  mes 
sage  to  Congress,  in  which  he  declared  that  tariff  legislation  was 
the  "  imperative  demand  of  the  hour." 

In  accordance  with  his  recommendation  Congress  passed  the 
Dingley  Tariff  Bill.1  The  object  of  the  measure  was  stated  to  be, 
"To  provide  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  government  and  to 
encourage  the  industries  of  the  United  States." 

The  Dingley  Tariff  differs  from  the  Wilson-Gorman  Act  (§  564) 
in  several  important  respects  :  First,  it  takes  wool,  hides,  and 
certain  other  raw  materials  from  the  free  list  and  places  them 
upon  the  dutiable  list.  Secondly,  it  generally  imposes  a  higher 
rate  on  woolens,  silks,  and  other  textile  fabrics.  Thirdly,  in  many 
cases  it  levies  specific  or  compound  duties  instead  of  ad  valorem 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  463. 


580          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY        [1897- 

duties.1  Fourthly,  it  concedes  a  somewhat  broader  range  of  reci 
procity  duties  (§  555).  The  Dingley  Tariff  retains  the  anti-trust 
clauses  of  the  Wilson-Gorman  Act,  which  forbid  all  combinations 
"in  restraint  of  lawful  trade,"  or  of  "free  competition,"  or  "to 
increase  the  market  price  in  any  part  of  the  United  States  "  of 
any  imported  article.  The  Dingley  duties  average  somewhat 
more  than  the  McKinley  Tariff  rates  (§  555). 

569.  Growth  of  productive  power ;  great  corporations  and  trusts. 
Since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  economic  conditions  in  the 
United  States  have  entirely  changed.  This  is  the  natural  and  inevi 
table  result  of  the  enormous  increase  in  manufacturing  and  other 
forms  of  productive  power,  and  in  the  rapid  growth  of  capital. 
These  compel  new  methods  of  doing  business.  Less  than  a  cen 
tury  ago  most  of  the  manufactured  goods  produced  in  this  country 
and  throughout  the  world  were  made  by  hand.  Clothing  and  boots 
and  shoes  are  familiar  examples.  Now  nearly  every  manufactured 
article  is  made  by  machinery.  To-day  a  single  workman  operating 
one  or  more  machines  can  often  produce  as  much  as  twenty-five 
men  could  in  Washington's  time. 

This  radical  change  has  had  far-reaching  results.  First,  the  use 
of  machinery  has  made  many  kinds  of  goods  much  cheaper 2  and 
has  greatly  extended  their  consumption  among  all  classes  of  peo 
ple.  Secondly,  notwithstanding  this  increase  of  consumption,  the 
manufacturing  power  of  the  country  is  now  so  enormous  that  from 
time  to  time  the  market  is  glutted  by  overproduction,  and  capital 
and  labor  are  forced  to  stand  idle  for  an  indefinite  period,  at  heavy 
loss  to  both. 

1  These  specific  duties  consist  of  a  certain  rate  levied  without  regard  to  the  cost 
or  value  of  the  goods  imported,  as,  for  instance,  forty  cents  per  yard  on  all  silks. 
Ad  valorem  duties  are  levied  on  a  sliding  scale  according  to  the  value  of  the  goods,  as, 
for  instance,  forty  cents  per  yard  on  all  silks  costing  a  certain  sum,  with  an  increase 
of  duty  as  the  silk  rises  in  price.    Compound  duties  are  a  combination  of  specific  and 
ad  -valorem  rates. 

2  For  instance,  when  F.  C.  Lowell  began  to  manufacture  cotton  cloth  at  Waltham, 
Massachusetts,  in  1814  (see  §  314),  the  price  was  thirty-three  cents  a  yard ;  he  pre 
dicted  that  the  use  of  improved  machinery  would  in  time  reduce  it  to  eight  cents 
a  yard.     His  friends  ridiculed  the  idea,  but  it  has  long  since  been  realized.    See 
Cowley's  History  of  Lowell,  page  40. 


1897-]         RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW  NATION          581 

One  result  of  this  condition  of  things  has  been  a  constant  reach 
ing  out  in  search  of  new  markets  in  different  parts  of  the  world. 
This  effort  has  met  with  a  large  measure  of  success  (§  570). 

A  second  result  has  been  the  reorganization  of  methods  of 
doing  business,  and  the  growth  of  great  private  fortunes  amount 
ing,  in  some  cases,  to  several  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  Recent 
years  have  witnessed  the  formation  of  many  great  corporations 
and  "  trusts,"  —  that  is,  the  combination  of  a  number  of  corpora 
tions  under  one  management.  The  object  sought  is  to  reduce  the 
cost,  increase  the  aggregate  profit,  check  excessive  production, 
and  restrain  or  destroy  competition.  Congress  passed  the  Anti- 
Trust  Act  (1890)  and  the  act  requiring  publicity  of  accounts 
(I9°3)  to  control  ''trusts"  doing  an  interstate  business.  These 
acts  were  emphasized  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the 
Northern  Securities  Company  case  (1904)  dissolving  the  merger 
of  the  Great  Northern  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railways. 

This  movement  toward  combination  was  first  seen  on  a  large 
scale  in  the  union  of  independent  or  rival  lines  of  railways,  — 
as  in  the  case  of  the  New  York  Central  (1853,  1869).  It  next 
showed  itself  in  the  organization  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Company  (1881),  which  now  practically  controls  the  telegraph 
lines  of  the  United  States.  In  like  manner  the  Standard  Oil  Com 
pany  absorbed  (1881)  the  petroleum  trade  of  the  country.  Now, 
iron,  steel,  copper,  petroleum,  sugar,  gunpowder,  tobacco,  cotton 
seed  oil,  and  many  other  products  and  manufactures  are  con 
trolled  by  corporations  or  "  trusts."  Consolidation  is  also  seen  in 
retail  business  in  the  "department  stores,"  which  bring  together 
an  immense  variety  of  goods  under  one  roof.  This  tendency  to  com 
bine  is  found  in  federations  of  labor  as  well  as  in  federations  of  cap 
ital.  It  has  led  to  much  legislation,  it  has  influenced  political  action, 
and  it  has  given  rise  to  earnest  attempts  to  harmonize  the  relations 
of  employer  and  employed.  Finally,  it  has  stimulated  the  Social 
ists  to  urge  cooperation  in  production,  and  to  advocate  the  muni 
cipal,  state,  or  federal  ownership  of  lines  of  transportation  and 
communication,  together  with  mines,  oil  wells,  and  coal  fields;  while 


582        THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1897-1899 

some  radical  thinkers  of  the  Henry  George  school  declare  that  the 
land  itself  should  cease  to  be  private  property  and  should  be  held 
by  the  commonwealth  or  the  nation  and  leased  to  the  people. 

570 .  Enormous  increase  of  exports  ;  inventions  and  discoveries  ; 
the  Congressional  Library.  In  connection  with  the  subject  of  the 
productive  power  of  the  country  attention  should  be  called  to  the 
opening  of  new  markets  abroad  and  the  immense  increase  of  our 
exports.  In  1898  we  shipped  to  Europe  breadstuffs,  provisions, 
and  cattle  and  sheep  valued  at  upwards  of  $500,000,000. 

Next,  in  addition  to  our  regular  exports  of  cotton,  petroleum, 
tobacco,  and  other  staples,  we  are  now  sending  abroad  a  constantly 
increasing  quantity  of  iron,  copper,  steel,  hardware,  tools,  machin 
ery,  furniture,  and  manufactured  wood. 

Our  locomotives  are  going  to  Russia,  China,  Japan,  and  in  some 
cases  even  to  England.  India  is  importing  our  steel  rails  and 
Austria  our  steel  water  pipes.  American  sewing  machines,  type 
writers,  bicycles,  watches,  and  revolvers,  unless  shut  out  by  tariff, 
are  found  in  every  country  of  Europe.  Great  Britain  not  only 
sends  us  large  orders  for  machinery  and  cars  to  operate  electric 
roads,  but  has  recently,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history,  imported 
a  cargo  of  Pennsylvania  steel  plates  for  shipbuilding. 

In  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  our  exports  have  more  than 
doubled.  In  1904  they  aggregated  over  $1,460,000,000,  and 
exceeded  our  imports  by  nearly  $470,000,000.*  Again,  the  pro 
duction  of  coal,  iron,  and  petroleum  has  increased  from  five  to 
seven  times  faster  than  the  increase  of  population,  and  the  home 
consumption  is  growing  proportionately. 

These  statistics  appear  to  indicate  that  we  are  advancing  to  a 
point  where  we  shall  be  recognized  as  holding  the  controlling 
influence  in  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Should  our  exports 
continue  to  increase  in  the  same  ratio,  the  time  may  come  when 
the  globe  will  be  practically  girdled  with  American  rails  and  the 
seas  traversed  by  steamships  built  of  American  steel  and  freighted 

1  See  the  Government  Report  of  the  Foreign  Commerce  of  the  United  States 
for  1904,  1192. 


FOREIGN  EXPORTS;  PRODUCTION  OF 
IRON  AND  STEEL 

The  total  value  of  exports  from  the  United  States  in  1904 
reached  the  enormous  amount  of  over  $1,460,000,000.  This 
was  an  excess  of  nearly  $470,000,000  over  imports. 

The  present  rate  of  increase  of  the  population  of  the  United 
States  is  about  21  per  cent,  but  statistics  prove  that  both  our 
exports  and  our  home  consumption  are  increasing  far  more 
rapidly  even  than  our  gain  in  population. 

The  United  States  now  produces  more  iron  than  any  other 
nation  on  the  globe.  Formerly  Great  Britain  ranked  first; 
it  is  now  second,  and  Germany  ranks  third.  See  diagram 
below  showing  the  production  of  pig  iron  in  tons  (1865-1903). 

But  steel  is  now  rapidly  taking  the  place  of  iron,  and  the 
United  States  has  become  "the  master  of  the  world"  in 
the  making  of  steel.  This  great  change  has  taken  place  since 
1865.  In  that  year  the  total  output  of  steel  in  this  country 
was  less  than  12,000  tons;  in  1875  it  was  over  389,000  tons;  in 
1885  it  exceeded  1,711,000  tons;  in  1895  it  was  over  6,114,000 
tons;  and  in  1902  it  was  nearly  15,000,000  tons,  or  no  less  than 
1250  times  greater  than  it  was  in  1865. 

This  wonderful  advance  is  due,  first,  to  our  greatly  improved 
methods  of  manufacture ;  secondly,  to  the  substitution  of 
coke  for  coal ;  and,  thirdly,  to  the  enormous  stimulus  given  to 
production  by  the  recent  rapid  extension  of  steam  and  electric 
railways,  and  the  use  of  steel  for  building  purposes. 

The  progress  in  this  direction  is  strikingly  illustrated  by 
the  amount  of  capital  now  invested  in  this  production.  In 
1901  a  company  was  organized  for  the  manufacture  of  steel, 
with  a  capital  of  over  a  r— — i  thousand  millions  of  dol 
lars, —  an  amount  which  /  J  exceeded  the  entire  cap 
ital  reported  by  the  r  )5T  census  of  1860,  as  then 


employed    in    all    of    the 
facturing     industries     of 


1870. 
1,865,000 


mechanical    and     manu- 
the  United  States. 


1875. 
2,266,581 


4,295,414 


i88j. 
,529,869 


7590. 
10,307,028 


10,579,864 


igoj. 
18,000,000* 


*  Practically  the  whole  of  this  enormously  increased  production  of  iron  was  utilized 
at  home  for  the  manufacture  of  finished  products  of  iron  and  steel  of  which  the  expor 
tations  have  grown  from  less  than  $30,000,000  in  1894  to  nearly  $112,000,000  in  1904. 


1897-1899]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION       583 

with  American  products,  manufactures,  machinery,  tools,  and  labor- 
and  time-saving  inventions.1 

A  landmark  of  progress  in  a  different  direction  and  one  of 
equal  interest  is  seen  in  the  Congressional  Library  Building. 
This  magnificent  white  granite  structure  was  completed  and 
opened  late  in  the  autumn  of  1897.  It  has  room  for  nearly  six 
million  volumes.  Next  to  the  capitol,  which  it  faces,  it  is  gen 
erally  considered  to  be  the  finest  public  building  in  Washington, 
and  perhaps  the  finest  of  the  kind  in  the  world. 

571.  "  Greater  New  York  "  and  other  cities  ;  municipal  govern 
ment  ;  revised  state  constitutions.  On  New  Year's  Day,  1898,  the 
charter  of  "  Greater  New  York  "  went  into  operation.  The  metrop 
olis  now  includes  Brooklyn  and  many  suburban  towns.  It  covers 
an  area  of  nearly  360  square  miles,  a  territory  equal  to  more  than 
one  fourth  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  and  comprising  a  population 
estimated  at  over  3,500,000,  which  is  rapidly  increasing. 

1  Among  the  recent  inventions  not  previously  mentioned,  attention  may  be  called 
to  the  following:  The  machine  gun,  smokeless  powder,  fixed  ammunition,  breech- 
loading  cannon ;  the  Westinghouse  air  brake  for  cars,  the  automatic  electric  signals, 
the  interlocking  safety  switch,  the  automatic  car  coupler,  vestibule  trains,  the  Pull 
man  and  the  Wagner  palace  cars ;  machinery  for  making  shoes,  and  for  forging  steel ; 
the  compressed  air  drill,  the  sand  blast  for  cutting  designs  on  glass  ;  the  electric  search 
light;  electric  welding  and  heating;  the  self-binding  reaper  and  harvester;  aluminum 
ware;  enameled  kitchen  ware;  dyes  made  from  coal  tar;  wood  paper;  wire  nails, 
gimlet-pointed  screws,  plain  and  barbed  wire  fence ;  the  cash  carrier  for  stores,  the 
passenger  elevator;  ocean  steamers  built  of  steel  with  water-tight  bulkheads  and 
twin  screws ;  the  hydraulic  dredge ;  the  gas  engine,  the  Corliss  engine ;  the  voting 
machine;  the  tin-can-making  machine;  water  gas;  Yale,  combination,  and  time 
locks ;  the  typewriter,  the  typesetting  machine,  the  bicycle,  and  the  automobile ;  the 
knitting  machine,  the  ice-making  machine,  the  thrashing  machine,  corn-harvesting 
machines;  vulcanized  rubber,  celluloid;  canned  foods;  the  grain  elevator;  the  eccen 
tric  lathe  ;  the  storage  battery ;  the  dynamo  ;  the  fire-proof  safe  ;  the  phonograph  ;  the 
kinetoscope ;  planing  machines  for  wood  and  metal ;  the  nail-making  machine ;  the 
steam  fire  engine ;  the  hydraulic  ram ;  the  miner's  safety  lamp  ;  machinery  for  mak 
ing  wooden  ware ;  card-clothing  machinery  ;  improved  processes  of  making  steel. 

Among  the  most  noteworthy  scientific  discoveries  of  the  century  (not  previously 
mentioned)  are  spectrum  analysis,  dynamite,  the  use  of  cocaine  as  a  local  anaesthetic 
in  producing  insensibility  to  pain,  the  X  or  Roentgen  Ray  used  in  surgery  (and  to 
some  extent  in  the  arts)  for  seeing  and  photographing  objects  otherwise  invisible  to 
the  eye,  the  use  of  antiseptics  in  surgical  operations,  the  discovery  and  treatment  of 
disease  germs,  the  discovery  of  radium,  the  production  of  liquid  air,  cold  storage,  and 
wireless  telegraphy. 


584  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1897- 

New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco  have  likewise  recently  adopted 
new  charters  with  the  view  of  securing  better  municipal  govern 
ment. 

The  growth  of  cities  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of 
our  history.  When  the  first  federal  census  was  taken  in  1790, 
the  population  of  the  United  States  was  almost  wholly  rural  and 
agricultural.  There  were  then  only  six  cities  which  had  more 
than  8000  inhabitants,  —  Philadelphia  ranking  first  with  a  popula 
tion  of  42,000,  and  New  York  next  with  33,000.  Then  only  about 
three  persons  in  a  hundred  lived  in  cities ;  now  the  proportion  is 
about  thirty  in  a  hundred,  or  almost  one  third  of  the  entire  popu 
lation. 

For  this  reason  the  question  of  good  government  in  the  United 
States  has  come  to  depend  in  large  degree  on  the  honest,  intelli 
gent,  and  efficient  administration  of  affairs  in  our  cities.  It  is 
certain  that  if  their  management  is  permitted  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  incapable  or  corrupt  men,  the  good  name  of  the  Republic 
will  be  put  to  shame  and  its  welfare  vitally  imperiled. 

Within  the  past  ten  years  six  Southern  States  have  adopted 
new  or  revised  constitutions  making  important  changes  in  condi 
tions  of  suffrage.  Mississippi  (1892)  requires  the  voter  to  pay  a 
poll  tax  and  to  be  able  to  read  or  understand  any  section  of  the 
state  constitution.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has 
recently  (1898)  given  a  decision  sustaining  this  clause.  South 
Carolina  (1895),  North  Carolina  (1896),  Louisiana  (1898),  Ala 
bama  (1901),  and  Virginia  (1902)  have  followed  the  example  of 
Mississippi  in  adopting  educational  or  property  qualifications  for 
suffrage.1  The  effect  of  these  changes  will  be  to  disfranchise  the 
greater  part  of  the  negroes  in  these  states  for  an  indefinite  length 
of  time,  and  to  give  the  white  race  the  political  control.  Several 
other  Southern  States  are  considering  the  question  of  adopting 
similar  provisions. 

In  1898  South  Dakota  made  a  still  more  radical  change.  It 
voted  to  amend  the  state  constitution  so  that  the  people  shall 

1  See  Thorpe's  Short  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  294. 


1897-]         RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         585 

have  the  right  to  initiate  legislation  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  to  modify  or  repeal  it  by  the  use  of  the  referendum.1 

This  is  the  first  attempt  to  introduce  a  principle  of  legislation 
here  which  has  been  in  operation  in  Switzerland  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  result  will  be  looked  for  with  deep  interest. 

572.  Spanish  possessions  in  the  sixteenth  century.  At  the  close 
of  the  sixteenth  century  Spaniards  were  the  only  white  men 
who  had  succeeded  in  planting  permanent  colonies  on  any  part 
of  the  North  American  continent  (§§23,  35).  Furthermore, 
the  same  race  held  the  West  Indies,  the  greater  part  of  South 
America,  the  Philippines,  and  other  important  groups  of  islands 
in  the  East. 

Territorially  Spain  was  then  the  most  powerful  empire  on  the 
globe,  and  Philip  II  could  boast  with  entire  truth  that  he  ruled 
over  "  possessions  on  which  the  sun  never  set." 

The  rise  of  England  as  a  "  sea  power  "  and  as  a  successful  planter 
of  colonies  in  Virginia  forced  the  Spanish  emperor  to  relinquish 
some  of  his  plans  respecting  America.  But  as  late  almost  as  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  Spain  still  claimed  not  only 
the  greater  part  of  the  West  Indies,  Mexico,  and  the  peninsula  of 
Florida  but  the  whole  of  that  vast  country  west  of  the  Mississippi 
now  embraced  by  the  United  States. 

Less  than  twenty-five  years  later,  Spain  had  lost  all  of  her 
immense  possessions  on  the  mainland  of  North  America  (§§  280, 
318,  319,  map),  and  the  only  colonies  she  still  held  in  the  West 
Indies  were  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico. 

573.  Cuba  and  the  Cuban  revolution.  Columbus  called  Cuba 
"  the  Pearl  of  the  Antilles  "  and  declared  that  it  was  "  the  most 
beautiful  land  that  eyes  ever  beheld."  Commercially  this  fertile 
island  has  always  ranked  high.  In  a  military  point  of  view  its 

1  The  amendment  to  the  South  Dakota  constitution  (1898)  provides  that  whenever 
five  per  cent  of  the  voters  of  the  state  shall  petition  for  the  enactment  of  a  law,  the 
Legislature  shall  at  once  submit  the  proposed  statute  to  the  people  at  a  special  elec 
tion  ;  in  like  manner,  on  the  petition  of  the  same  number  of  voters,  any  law  which 
the  Legislature  may  have  enacted  must  be  submitted  to  the  popular  vote,  and  if  a 
majority  then  vote  against  it,  it  shall  not  go  into  effect. 


586        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1895-189? 

position  between  Florida  and  Yucatan  makes  it  "  the  Key  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  "  and  to  the  eastern  entrance  to  any  interoceanic 
canal  which  may  be  cut  through  Central  America. 

But  this  happily  situated  island,  as  large  as  the  state  of  Penn 
sylvania  and  almost  in  sight  from  Key  West,  Florida,  had  long 
presented  a  striking  contrast  to  the  free  states  north  of  it. 
Under  the  arbitrary  rule  of  Spain  the  masses  of  the  people  en 
joyed  neither  civil,  political,  nor  religious  liberty.  They  were 
bowed  down  by  an  enormous  burden  of  taxation,  and  they  were 
excluded  from  having  any  share  in  the  government.  All  public 
offices  were,  as  a  rule,  monopolized  by  officials  sent  over  from 
Spain.  According  to  the  last  census  (1887)  the  inhabitants  of 
this  island  numbered  somewhat  over  1,600,000.  They  were 
divided  into  three  classes  :  (i)  a  small  number  of  native  Span 
iards  who  held  nearly  every  position  of  power  and  trust ;  (2)  the 
white  Creoles,  who  constituted  the  great  bulk  of  the  people; 
(3)  mulattoes,  free  negroes,  and  Chinamen. 

For  many  years  discontent  had  shown  itself  in  insurrection. 
For  many  years,  too,  the  South  had  coveted  Cuba  for  purposes 
of  slavery  extension.  In  1845  the  United  States  offered  Spain 
$100,000,000  for  the  island,  and  between  1849  an(^  x^57  several 
American  filibustering  expeditions  made  vain  attempts  to  seize  it. 
In  1854  the  Ostend  Manifesto  (§  430)  boldly  declared  that  "  the 
Union  can  never  enjoy  repose  nor  possess  reliable  security  as  long 
as  Cuba  is  not  embraced  within  its  boundaries." 

In  1868  a  formidable  rebellion  broke  out  in  Cuba,  which  lasted 
for  ten  years.  President  Grant  condemned  the  barbarous  manner 
in  which  the  combatants  on  both  sides  carried  on  the  war,  and 
interceded  with  Spain,  but  without  avail.  At  length,  after  terrible 
destruction  of  life,  the  Spanish  government  succeeded  in  quell 
ing  the  insurrection  on  the  surface. 

574.  The  war  for  Cuban  independence.  Early  in  1895  a  new 
and  still  more  determined  uprising  began  in  eastern  Cuba.  The 
insurgents  did  not  demand  reform,  but  declared  themselves  for 
''independence  or  death." 


1895-1897]     RECONSTRUCTION,   THE   NEW   NATION       587 

The  progress  of  the  movement  developed  three  parties  :  (i)  the 
ultra  Revolutionists,  who  demanded  absolute  separation  from 
Spain;  (2)  the  Autonomists,  who  asked  for  "home  rule"  without 
separation;  (3)  the  Spanish  party  in  power,  who  opposed  any 
change  whatever. 

The  next  year  (1896)  the  natives  of  the  Philippines,  animated 
by  the  example  of  Cuba,  rose  in  revolt.  Spain  had  therefore  to 
undertake  the  formidable,  if  not  hopeless,  task  of  endeavoring 
to  suppress  two  rebellions  at  the  same  time,  —  one  on  one  side 
of  the  globe,  the  other  on  the  other.  In  the  case  of  Cuba  the 
revolutionists  had  more  or  less  help  from  filibustering  expeditions 
and  funds  sent  by  sympathizers  in  the  United  States. 

President  Cleveland  in  his  message  of  1896  declared  that,  in 
dependent  of  all  humanitarian  considerations,  we  had  a  direct 
pecuniary  interest  in  Cuba  "  second  only  to  that  of  the  people 
and  government  of  Spain."  He  added  that  if  the  war  should 
continue  it  must  end  in  the  utter  "ruin  of  the  island."  Presi 
dent  Cleveland  concluded  by  saying  that  while  the  United 
States  was  willing  to  grant  Spain  any  reasonable  amount  of  time 
for  pacifying  Cuba,  we  could  not  permit  the  strife  to  go  on 
indefinitely. 

When  President  McKinley  entered  office  the  Cuban  war  was 
raging  with  unabated  fury.  The  situation  was  greatly  aggravated 
by  the  frightful  sufferings  of  the  neutral  Cuban  peasants  or  non- 
combatants.  On  the  one  hand,  .the  insurgents  drove  them  off 
their  farms  and  compelled  them  to  support  the  revolution,  or 
hanged  them  if  they  refused.  On  the  other  hand,  General 
Weyler,  the  Spanish  leader,  forced  all  peasants  within  his  military 
area  to  concentrate  in  the  towns  held  by  his  troops.  He  allotted 
them  certain  small  areas  of  land,  within  the  Spanish  lines,  for 
cultivation.  These  wretched  people  huddled  together  with  their 
wives  and  children  in  confined  spaces  could  not  or  would  not  cul 
tivate  the  fields  allotted  to  them;  the  result  was  that  immense 
numbers  perished  miserably  of  pestilence  and  starvation.  General 
Lee,  United  States  Consul  at  Havana,  reported  that  in  the  town 


588        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY      [1897-1898 

of  Santa  Clara  alone,  out  of  a  population  of  14,000,  nearly  half 
starved  to  death  in  a  single  year. 

Spain  had  sent  200,000  soldiers  to  Cuba  and  had  well-nigh 
"bankrupted  herself  in  men  and  money"  in  the  vain  attempt  to 
suppress  the  rebellion.  The  insurgents  kept  up  a  guerrilla  war, 
ravaging  the  country,  burning  buildings,  and  destroying  sugar  and 
tobacco  plantations.  The  loss  incurred  by  American  investors 
alone  was  estimated  at  from  $30,000,000  to  $50,000,000. 

575.  Demands  made  on  Spain  by  the  United  States;  reforms 
granted.    The  protests  of  the  United  States  against  the  continu 
ance  of  the  war  passed  in  great  part  unheeded.     Finally,  Presi 
dent  McKinley  demanded  that  Spain  should  take  immediate  and 
effectual  measures  to  pacify  Cuba. 

The  Spanish  government  made  a  conciliatory  reply  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1897  recalled  General  Weyler  and  sent  out  General 
Blanco  to  grant  reforms.  Blanco  was  heartily  in  favor  of  pursu 
ing  the  policy  outlined  by  the  Liberal  party,  which  had  come 
into  power  in  Spain.  He  took  active  measures  to  relieve  the 
starving  peasants  ;  he  appointed  native  Cubans  to  office  and  made 
a  formal  offer  of  "  home  rule  "  to  the  insurgents. 

The  Spanish  authorities  had  made  similar  pledges  of  reform  in 
the  insurrection  of  1868-1878,  but  had  not  kept  their  word. 
The  insurgents  had  no  faith  in  these  new  assurances.  Gomez,  the 
revolutionist  leader,  declared  that  he  and  his  followers  would 
accept  nothing  short  of  absolute  independence.  By  his  orders 
the  Spanish  officer  who  came  as  an  official  peace  envoy  to  his 
camp  was  seized  and  shot  as  a  spy. 

576.  The  destruction  of  the  "Maine";  Congress  declares  Cuba 
independent.    Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Cuba  when  an 
event  occurred  which  suddenly  changed  everything.     The  United 
States  had  sent  Captain  Sigsbee  to  Havana  with  the  battle  ship 
Maine.     There  was  nothing  threatening  or  unfriendly  in  his  visit 
to  that  port,  and  he  remained  there  in  peace  for  nearly  three 
weeks;  but  on  the  night  of  February  15,  1898,  the  Maine,  while 
lying  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion  and 
3  officers  and  264  of  her  crew  were  killed. 


1898]  RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         589 

The  United  States  appointed  a  naval  Court  of  Inquiry  to  make 
an  investigation.  After  a  long  and  careful  examination  they 
reported  that  in  their  opinion  "  the  Maine  was  destroyed  by  the 
explosion  of  a  submarine  mine."  The  court  found  no  evidence 
showing  whether  the  explosion  was  caused  by  accident  or  design, 
and  they  made  no  attempt  to  fix  the  responsibility  for  the  act  on 
any  person  or  persons. 

The  Spanish  government  expressed  their  regret  at  "  the  lamen 
table  incident,"  disavowed  all  connection  with  it,  declared  they 
believed  that  the  explosion  resulted  from  internal  causes,  and  urged 
that  the  whole  question  should  be  referred  to  a  committee  of  arbi 
tration.  This  suggestion  the  United  States  declined  to  consider. 

Later,  Spain  ordered  General  Blanco  to  treat  with  the  insur 
gents  for  an  armistice  preparatory  to  establishing  peace,  and  an 
offer  of  nominal  independence  was  made  to  the  Cubans.  These 
measures  had  no  practical  results  with  the  revolutionists. 

In  April  President  McKinley  sent  a  special  message  to  Congress. 
He  declared  that,  "  in  the  name  of  humanity,  in  the  name  of  civ 
ilization,  in  behalf  of  endangered  American  interests,  which  give 
us  the  right  and  the  duty  to  speak  and  act,  the  war  in  Cuba 
must  stop." 

Shortly  afterward  Congress  took  up  the  matter.  A  proposition 
to  recognize  the  Cuban  Republic  failed,  but  Congress  resolved  by 
joint  resolution  (April  20,  1898)  :  (i)  "  That  the  people  of  Cuba 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent."  ]  (2)  That 
body  demanded  that  Spain  should  at  once  withdraw  all  of  her  forces 
from  the  island.  (3)  Furthermore,  Congress  authorized  the  Presi 
dent  to  use  the  entire  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States 
to  carry  the  resolution  into  effect.  (4)  The  United  States  declared 
that  when  the  pacification  of  Cuba  should  be  fully  accomplished 
we  would  "  leave  the  government  and  control  of  the  island  to  its 
people." 

577.  War  with  Spain.  An  ultimatum  was  sent  to  Spain  which 
that  power  declined  to  receive.  It  was  now  seen  that  war  was 
inevitable.  Shortly  after  this  action  of  Congress  the  President 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  128. 


590          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY  [1898 

issued  a  call  for  125,000  volunteers,  and  later  for  75,000  more; 
Captain  William  T.  Sampson,  acting  Rear  Admiral,  had  been  put  in 
command  of  a  naval  fleet  at  Key  West,  and  Commodore  W.  S.  Schley 
was  ordered  to  organize  a  "  flying  squadron"  at  Hampton  Roads. 

Congress  had  already  placed  $50,000,000  in  the  hands  of  the 
President  to  purchase  additional  war  ships  and  carry  out  plans  of 
national  defense. 

Later,  the  government  borrowed  $200,000,000  from  the  people 
of  the  United  States  to  prosecute  the  war.  So  eager  were  the 
people  to  purchase  these  new  three-per-cent  bonds  that  they  sub 
scribed  for  no  less  than  seven  times  the  amount  called  for. 

The  act  of  Congress  (1898)  which  authorized  the  popular  loan 
also  made  provision  for  securing  a  war  revenue.  This  measure 
levied  special  domestic  and  internal  taxes,  including  stamp  duties, 
on  business  paper  and  taxes  on  legacies  and  on  beer.1  It  was 
expected  to  yield  an  annual  revenue  of  from  $175,000,000  to 
$200,000,000. 

A  few  days  before  Congress  formally  declared  war  (April  25, 
1898)  the  President  sent  Captain  Sampson  with  a  squadron  to 
blockade  Havana  and  other  important  Cuban  ports. 

578.  The  battle  of  Manila.  Commodore  George  Dewey  was  in 
command  of  our  Asiatic  squadron  at  Hongkong.  The  President 
ordered  him  to  proceed  at  once  to  Manila,  the  capital  of  the 
Philippines,  and  "  capture  or  destroy  "  the  Spanish  fleet  which 
guarded  that  important  port.  (See  map  facing  this  page.)  The 
plan  was  to  strike  Spain  in  two  vulnerable  points,  Cuba  and  the 
Philippines,  at  the  same  time.  Dewey  had  but  six  war  ships,  of 
which  only  one  ranked  as  a  first-class  cruiser.  Manila  was  pro 
tected  by  fortifications  and  the  Spanish  there  had  twice  as  many 
vessels  as  Dewey,  but  they  were  inferior  in  size  and  armament  to 
the  American  squadron;  and  although  the  enemy  showed  no  lack 
of  courage,  they  were  miserable  gunners. 

On  May  i,  1898,  Commodore  Dewey  sent  a  dispatch  to  the 
President  stating  that  he  had  just  fought  a  battle  in  which  he  had 

1  See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  465. 


1896]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         591 

destroyed  every  one  of  the  enemy's  squadron  without  losing  a 
single  man. 

Congress  voted  the  thanks  of  the  nation  to  the  "  Hero  of 
Manila,"  and  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Rear  Admiral; 
after  the  war  he  was  made  Admiral  (1899),  and  Captain  Sampson 
and  Commodore  Schley  were  made  Rear  Admirals. 

The  ultimate  results  of  Dewey's  remarkable  victory  may  prove 
a  turning  point  in  American  history,  deciding  the  question  of  our 
colonial  policy  in  the  far  East;  hence  his  destruction  of  the 
Spanish  fleet  may  eventually  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  decisive 
battles  of  the  world. 

Soon  after  Dewey's  splendid  success  the  President  sent  rein 
forcements  from  San  Francisco  under  General  Wesley  Merritt,  to 
cooperate  with  our  squadron  when  it  should  undertake  to  capture 
Manila. 

579.  Cervera's  fleet  "  bottled  up."  Just  before  the  battle  of 
Manila  a  Spanish  fleet  consisting  of  four  armored  cruisers  and 
three  torpedo-boat  destroyers  under  Admiral  Cervera  left  the 
Cape  Verde  Islands.  They  had  started,  as  was  supposed,  for 
Cuban  waters  or  with  intent  to  attack  the  cities  of  our  eastern 
coast. 

Commodore  Schley's  "  flying  squadron "  set  out  to  find  the 
enemy.  After  a  number  of  weeks'  search  it  was  discovered  that 
Cervera  had  entered  the  harbor  of  Santiago  on  the  southeastern 
coast  of  Cuba. 

A  few  days  later,  Captain  Sampson  sailed  with  a  number  of  war 
ships  for  that  port.  One  of  his  fleet  was  the  battle  ship  Oregon, 
which  had  recently  arrived  from  San  Francisco,  by  way  of  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  after  an  exciting  voyage  of  more  than  thir 
teen  thousand  miles. 

The  long,  narrow,  crooked  channel  of  Santiago  made  entrance 
for  our  vessels  very  hazardous,  and  it  was  known  that  it  was  pro 
tected  by  both  land  batteries  and  submarine  mines. 

Cervera's  fleet  was  "  bottled  up,"  but  the  question  was  whether 
he  might  not  slip  out  under  cover  of  darkness  and  elude  our  guns. 


592 


THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Captain  Sampson  resolved  to  "  cork  the  bottle,"  and  Lieu 
tenant  Hobson,  at  his  own  earnest  request,  was  given  charge  of 
the  dangerous  experiment.  With  the  help  of  seven  sailors,  all 
eager  to  rush  into  the  jaws  of  death  with  him,  he  ran  the  coal  ship 
Merrimac  into  the  Santiago  channel  and  sank  her  part  way  across 
it.  Hobson  and  his  men  were  captured  by  the  Spaniards,  but 
were  soon  exchanged,  and  on  shore  he  became  the  hero  of  the  day. 

580.  Fighting  near  Santiago;  the  "Rough  Riders";  destruc 
tion  of  Cervera's  fleet.  A  few  weeks  later,  General  Shafter  landed 
a  strong  force  near  Santiago  to  cooperate  with  Captain  Sampson 


BATTLES  NEAR  SANTIAGO 

in  the  capture  of  that  city.  A  skirmish  brought  out  the  fighting 
qualities  of  the  regulars  and  of  the  "  Rough  Riders  "  who  here 
fought  on  foot.  A  week  later  (July  1-2,  1898),  after  a  sharp 
engagement  at  El  Caney  and  at  San  Juan,  where  the  "Rough 
Riders,"  led  by  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt,  did  gallant  work, 
the  regulars  —  "the  flower  of  the  American  standing  army"  — 
drove  the  Spaniards  into  Santiago  with  heavy  loss. 

Shortly  afterward  Captain  Sampson  went  to  confer  with  General 
Shafter,  leaving  Commodore  Schley  and  the  other  commanders  of 
the  fleet  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  Cervera ;  for  the  Merrimac 
had  only  half  corked  the  bottle. 


RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         593 

Soon  after  Captain  Sampson  left,  a  shout  went  up  from  the  flag 
ship  Brooklyn,  "  The  Spaniards  are  coming  out  of  the  harbor ! "  Both 
sides  opened  fire  at  the  same  time  ;  but  the  Spanish  admiral,  with  his 
six  vessels,  had  small  chance  in  a  contest  with  our  fleet  of  six  vessels, 
comprising  four  first-class  battle  ships.1  In  less  than  three  hours  all 
of  the  enemy's  fleet  were  blazing,  helpless  wrecks,  and  Cervera 
himself  was  a  prisoner  of  war  on  board  of  one  of  our  ships. 

Spain  had  another  squadron  at  home,  but  she  needed  that  to 
protect  her  coast;  so  far  as  we  were  concerned,  her  power  on 
the  ocean  was  practically  destroyed. 

581.  The  end  of  the  war;  the  treaty  with  Spain;  outbreak  at 
Manila ;  the  treaty  ratified ;  annexation  of  Hawaii.  Soon  after 
this  decisive  defeat  the  Spaniards  surrendered  Santiago. 

A  few  days  later,  Spain  asked  for  terms  of  peace,  and  on 
August  12,  1898,  a  protocol  covering  the  preliminaries  of  peace 
was  signed  at  Washington. 

The  President  at  once  ordered  the  suspension  of  hostilities. 
General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  Commander  of  the  Army  of  the  United 
States,  was  then  in  Porto  Rico  preparing  for  a  decisive  battle. 
When  the  order  to  suspend  hostilities  was  received  the  island 
surrendered  to  our  forces.  Before  the  government  dispatch  could 
reach  the  Philippines,  Rear  Admiral  Dewey  and  General  Merritt 
had  attacked  and  taken  Manila. 

The  Peace  Commission  appointed  by  the  American  and  the 
Spanish  governments  met  at  Paris  October  i,  1 898,  and  the  treaty 2 
was  signed  on  December  10.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  Spain 
(i)  gave  up  all  sovereignty  over  Cuba ;  (2)  ceded  to  us  the  island 
of  Porto  Rico  and  the  island  of  Guam  in  the  Ladrones ;  (3)  finally, 
Spain  ceded  the  Philippines3  to  us, receiving  in  return  $20,000,000 
for  the  public  works  which  the  Spanish  government  had  erected 
on  those  islands.  On  New  Year's  Day,  1899,  tne  Spanish  forces 
left  Havana  and  the  American  flag  was  hoisted  over  the  palace 

1  The  battle  ship  Massachusetts  and  Captain  Sampson's  flagship,  the  armored 
cruiser  New  York,  were  not  in  the  battle,  being  absent  on  duty  at  other  points. 

2  See  Macdonald's  Sehct  Statutes,  No.  131.  3  See  map  facing  page  590. 


594        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1898-1899 

and  the  castle  of  that  ancient  city.  This  left  Spain  without  a  foot 
of  ground  on  this  side  of  the  globe. 

The  chief  point  of  discussion  in  the  Senate  respecting  the 
treaty  was  the  article  on  the  cession  of  the  Philippines.  A  num 
ber  of  senators,  both  Democrats  and  Republicans,  strongly  opposed 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty  as  it  stood.  They  argued  that  we 
should  either  reject  it  entirely  or  amend  it  so  that  the  conditions 
required  from  Spain  should  be  the  giving  up  of  all  control  over 
the  Islands,  but  not  the  actual  cession  of  the  Islands  themselves 
to  the  United  States.  They  believed  that  the  annexation  of  the 
Philippines  would  prove  to  be  a  burden  rather  than  an  advantage 
to  this  country.  They  proposed  that  we  should  act  as  guardians 
over  the  Islands  until  the  people  should  become  able  to  govern 
and  protect  themselves. 

The  majority  of  the  Senate  held  the  view  that  the  annexation 
of  the  Philippines  would  be  for  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned, 
and  that  Congress  could  govern  them  for  an  indefinite  period  on 
the  territorial  plan,  as  we  do  Alaska. 

While  the  subject  was  under  discussion  the  natives  made  an 
attack  on  our  troops  at  Manila.  The  combined  forces  of  General 
Otis  and  Rear  Admiral  Dewey  speedily  drove  them  back  with 
terrible  loss.  The  news  of  the  battle  was  at  once  telegraphed  to 
Washington.  The  next  day,  February  6,  1899,  the  Senate  met 
and  forthwith  ratified  the  treaty  as  it  stood  by  a  vote  of  57  to  27. 
This  act  made  the  Philippines,  Porto  Rico,  and  Guam  part  of 
the  territory  of  the  United  States. 

We  had  already  annexed  the  Republic  of  Hawaii  (§  5  64)  ;  for 
after  Rear  Admiral  Dewey's  victory  many  people  thought,  with 
Captain  Mahan,  that  we  needed  these  Islands  as  a  base  of  defense 
and  of  naval  operations  in  the  Pacific.  The  opposition  declared  that 
the  Hawaiian  people  had  not  been  fully  consulted,  and  that  "  the 
cry  of  'war  emergency'  "  did  not  justify  our  taking  the  Islands; 
but  a  joint  resolution  to  annex  passed  both  houses  of  Congress  by 
a  large  majority,1  and  was  signed  by  the  President  July  7,  1898. 

1  See  Macdonald's  Select  Statutes,  No.  130. 


1898-1899]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION       595 

582.  The  cost  of  the  war;  the  question  of  "expansion."    The 
war,  so  far  as  actual  fighting  was  concerned,  lasted  a  little  over 
one  hundred  days.     American  history  records  no  campaign  having 
such  remarkable  success  at  such  small  cost  of  life  on  our  side. 
The  total  loss  in  the  army  and  navy  was  only  306.     The  war 
exhibited  the  wonderful  efficiency  of  our  new  navy;  it  showed 
what  American  soldiers,  whether  "regulars"  or  volunteers,  may 
always  be  expected  to  do ;  it  brought  Union  and  Confederate 
veterans  into  service  under  the  old  flag ; 1  and  it  illustrated  the 
noble  helpfulness  of  the  Red  Cross  Society  and  of  the  women  of 
America. 

The  total  direct  cost  of  the  war  was  about  $165,000,000.  But 
the  maintenance  of  a  larger  standing  army  to  preserve  order  in 
our  new  dependencies,  the  building  of  more  ships  of  war,  and  the 
outlay  for  pensions  to  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors  must  greatly 
increase  the  national  expenditures  for  a  number  of  years  to  come.2 

The  close  of  the  contest  with  Spain  left  us  face  to  face  with 
issues  greater  than  the  war  itself.  The  country  has  yet  to  decide 
the  momentous  problem  of  "  expansion"  or  of  "imperialism" 
(§  589).  On  that  problem  hangs  the  policy  of  the  retention  of 
the  Philippines ;  with  it  are  bound  up  questions  of  markets  in  the 
far  East,  of  increased  military  and  naval  forces,  of  taxation,  of 
immigration  and  labor,  and  of  the  adaptation  of  the  American 
Constitution  to  the  government  of  a  semi-civilized  people  in  distant 
island  possessions. 

583.  The  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition ;  cheap  lands ;  agricul 
tural  prosperity ;  the  preservation  of  forests ;   irrigation.    While 
the  war  with  Spain  was  in  progress  the  Trans- Mississippi  Expo 
sition  was  opened  at  Omaha,  Nebraska  (June  i,  1898).    Its  object 
was  to  exhibit  to  the  world  the  marvelous  growth  and  resources 
of  the  vast  region  west  of  the  great  river  of  our  continent. 

1  The  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment  received  an  ovation  as  it  marched  through 
Baltimore  (§  450) ;  the  enthusiasm  showed  how  the  wounds  of  the  Civil  War  had 
healed. 

2  Professor  Dewey  estimates  the  total  expenditure  on  the  army  and  navy,  1898- 
1901,  at  $842,000,000.     See  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  467. 


596          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1898- 

Spain  held  that  country  for  nearly  three  hundred  years  and 
expected  to  hold  it  for  all  time.  Through  it  Coronado  wandered 
in  his  search  for  gold  (§  21).  Fifty  years  ago  the  greater  part  of 
it  was  an  unexplored  wilderness.  North  of  Texas  there  was  not 
a  single  state  between  Missouri  on  the  east  and  California  on  the 
Pacific;  not  a  single  mile  of  railway  penetrated  the  country,  and 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  features  of  its  range  of  territories 
was  a  desolate  gray  patch  which  covered  a  section  of  many  thou 
sand  square  miles  on  the  school  maps  and  bore  the  forbidding 
name,  GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT. 

When  railways  began  to  cross  the  Mississippi  (§  522)  the  great 
change  in  that  region  began.  The  far  West  "  is  the  child  of  the 
locomotive."  Furthermore,  liberal  land  laws  hastened  the  settle 
ment  of  that  part  of  the  country.  Prior  to  1862  the  right  of 
preemption  enabled  the  settler  to  secure  public  land  at  the  lowest 
government  price  whenever  it  should  come  into  the  market. 

In  1 862  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  was  estab 
lished  and  began  its  great  work  of  usefulness  to  the  farmer  and 
the  fruit  raiser.  The  same  year  Congress  passed  the  Homestead 
Bill.1  That  act,  which  is  still  in  force,  gave  every  permanent  settler 
1 60  acres  of  land  practically  free  of  charge.  It  drew  to  America  a 
peaceful  army  of  wealth-producing  emigrants  ;  it  filled  great  wastes 
with  thrifty,  hard-working,  self-respecting  citizens  ;  it  enhanced  the 
value  of  the  remaining  public  domain,  and  thus  enriched  the  Treas 
ury  of  the  United  States.  Between  1 862  and  1 899  western  farmers 
took  up  nearly  170,000,000  acres  of  public  lands,  or  more  than 
260,000  square  miles.  Forty  years  ago  this  vast  area,  four  times 
larger  than  England  and  Wales,  had  no  white  inhabitants.  To-day 
the  whole  of  it  is  cultivated  by  those  who  own  it  and  live  on  it.2 

1  See  United  States  Statutes  at  Large  for  1862 ;  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia, 
II,5. 

2  Exclusive  of  Alaska,  the  United  States  has  still  about  500,000,000  acres  of  pub 
lic  lands  to  dispose  of,  but  a  considerable  part  of  them,  say  one  third,  is  unfit  for 
either  tillage  or  pasturage  unless  irrigation  can  be  employed,  and  then  only  a  por 
tion  can  be  made  fertile.     The  time  is  not  very  far  off  when  there  will  be  compara 
tively  little,  if  any,  government  land  for  sale  at  a  low  price. 


1898-]         RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         597 

A  noted  writer  once  said  that  "  whoever  could  make  two  ears 
of  corn  or  two  blades  of  grass  grow  upon  a  spot  of  ground  where 
only  one  grew  before  "  would  deserve  better  of  mankind  than 
those  even  who  made  its  laws. 

The  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  showed  conclusively  that  the 
western  farmer  has  accomplished  far  more  than  this,  for  he  has 
made  corn  grow  where  not  an  ear  grew  before,  and  in  some  cases 
he  has  made  grass  spring  up  where  not  a  blade  had  ever  been  seen. 

The  same  liberal  government  policy  which  gave  homesteads 
granted  large  tracts  of  lands  (1862)  to  the  states  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  agricultural  colleges.1  More  than  sixty  of  these  insti 
tutions  have  been  founded  and  their  total  endowment  funds  now 
exceed  $10,000,000.  In  many  cases  they  have  been  productive 
of  higher  education  and  have  borne  fruit  in  better  tillage  of  the 
soil  and  in  greater  material  results. 

The  year  1898  was  one  of  almost  unexampled  agricultural  pros 
perity.  The  West  raised  enormous  crops  of  breadstuffs  and,  owing 
to  the  foreign  demand,  sold  them  at  prices  which  filled  the  farmers' 
pockets  and  added  largely  to  the  wealth  of  the  country. 

In  connection  with  agriculture  attention  should  be  called  to  the 
preservation  of  forests.  It  is  found  that  the  destruction  of  timber  in 
volves  in  many  cases  very  serious  results.  Streams  unprotected  by 
forests  become  torrents  in  the  spring  and  dwindle  or  disappear  in  hot 
weather.  Where  such  a  process  goes  on  for  a  long  time  on  a  large 
scale  it  renders  the  valleys  sterile  and  sometimes  uninhabitable. 

The  total  area  of  forests  in  the  United  States  is  about  480,000,- 
ooo  acres.  Forest  fires  destroy  on  the  average  $20,000,000  worth 
of  standing  timber  every  year.  The  lumberman's  ax  and  sawmills 
cut  up  enormous  quantities  annually,  and  pulp  mills  for  the  manu 
facture  of  wood  paper  and  various  kinds  of  wooden  ware  make 
incessant  demands  on  the  forests. 

Since  1891  the  federal  government  has  set  apart  large  reserva 
tions  of  timber,  and  a  number  of  states  have  passed  laws  not  only 

1  See  United  States  Statutes  at  Large  for  1862  ;  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia, 

n,  5. 


598          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN    HISTORY         [1900- 

for  the.preservation  of  some  portion  of  their  woodlands  but  for 
tree  planting  as  well. 

Furthermore,  in  1902,  the  government  set  aside  all  moneys 
received  from  the  sale  of  public  lands  in  sixteen  western  states 
and  territories  to  establish  an  irrigation  system  in  certain  parts  of 
the  country  west  of  the  looth  meridian.1  It  is  believed  that  in 
this  way  many  millions  of  acres  of  arid  lands  can  be  made  fertile. 

584.  Savings  banks  ;  national  wealth  ;  use  of  money  for  the  pub 
lic  good.  The  principle  which  prompts  us  to  check  the  waste  of 
our  growing  timber  finds  a  still  broader  illustration  in  the  general 
thrift  of  the  American  people. 

The  first  three  savings  banks  in  the  United  States  were  estab 
lished  in  1816-1817  in  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  New  York.  In 
1820  the  total  deposits  in  such  institutions  were  only  a  little  over 
a  million  of  dollars.  To-day  the  savings  banks  of  this  country 
hold  more  than  three  thousand  times  the  amount  they  held  in 
i82o.2  This  aggregate  exceeds  the  entire  sum  deposited  in  all 
similar  banks  in  the  British  Empire,  France,  Belgium,  and  Switzer 
land  combined. 

This  fund  heaped  up  little  by  little  by  a  great  army  of  wage 
earners  is  an  index  of  the  general  growth  of  prosperity.  The 
estimated  increase  in  the  actual  value  of  the  real  and  personal 
property  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  from  1880  to  1890, 
was  not  far  from  fifty  per  cent.  The  total  "  true  valuation,"  or 
fair  selling  price,  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  was 
about  $100,000,000,000. 

This  vast  accumulation  of  wealth  is  to  a  great  extent  the  fruit 
of  economy,  self-denial,  well-directed  labor,  and  sound  habits  of 
life.  In  many  respects  the  material  development  of  the  country 
may  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  its  moral  vigor.  We  see  the  expres 
sion  of  this  power  in  the  wise  and  generous  use  of  much  of  the 

1  The  arid  lands  lie  in  Idaho,  Wyoming,  Nevada,  Utah,  Colorado,  Arizona,  New 
Mexico,  Washington,  Oregon,  California,  Montana,  the  Dakotas,  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
and  Texas.    Much  good  work  has  been  done,  and  it  is  expected  that  at  least  50,000 
square  miles  of  desert  will  be  reclaimed. 

2  In  1905  exceeded  $3,260,000,000. 


1900-]         RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         599 

capital  which  it  creates.  It  makes  men  public-spirited.  Irfounds 
colleges,  schools,  churches,  missions,  and  charities  of  all  kinds. 

Aside  from  what  the  states  and  cities  of  the  Union  are  accom 
plishing  for  intellectual  and  philanthropic  objects,  private  citizens 
spend  their  own  means  liberally  for  the  same  purpose.  Within  the 
past  six  years  they  have  given  nearly  $300,000,000  to  help  forward 
the  cause  of  education,  to  build  free  public  libraries  and  art  muse 
ums,  to  endow  homes  for  friendless  and  orphan  children,  for  the 
aged  poor,  and  hospitals  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  suffering.1 

585.  What  fifty  years  have  done  for  American  women.  The 
year  1900  marks  the  semicentennial  of  the  first  national  organ 
ization  of  women  to  secure  equal  suffrage  (§  404).  Since  then 
very  remarkable  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  condition  of 
the  sex  that  constitutes  nearly  one  half  of  the  population  of  our 
country.2 

These  changes  appear  to  be  due  partly  to  the  general  movement 
of  society,  and  partly  to  the  Woman's  Rights  agitation.  They 
are  see'n  :  (i)  in  the  immense  broadening  of  the  field  of  higher  edu 
cation;8  (2)  in  the  extension  of  property  rights;  (3)  in  the  free 
entrance  to  nearly  all  occupations  and  professions ;  (4)  in  partial 
woman  suffrage  in  many  states  and  full  suffrage  in  four  (§  553). 

This  widespread  movement  must  necessarily  exert  a  profound 
influence  on  the  home  life,  the  intellectual  development,  the  labor 
earnings,  and  the  political  history  of  the  American  people.4 

1  Independent  of  large  contributions  for  denominational  purposes  and  missions, 
the  total  amount  of  gifts  and  bequests  for  educational  and  philanthropic  objects  made 
by  private  persons  in  the  United  States  in  1899  was  nearly  $63,000,000,  and  nearly 
$77,000,000  in  1903.     For  a  long  time  the  yearly  average  has  been  not  less  than 
$34,000,000,  or  at  the  rate  of  upwards  of  $1,000,000,000  for  a  generation.     Carnegie 
and  J.  D.  Rockefeller  have  been  the  largest  single  givers.     See  Appleton's  Annual 
Cyclopaedia  for  1898,  Preface,  and  1899  and  1900,  "  Gifts  and  Bequests." 

2  According  to  the  census  of  1900,  51.1  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  United 
States  were  males,  and  48.9  per  cent  were  females.    The  slight  excess  of  males,  found 
generally  in  the  western  states,  has  been  attributed  to'immigration. 

3  Besides  the  four  great  independent  colleges  for  women,  Vassar,  Wellesley,  Smith, 
and  Bryn  Mawr,  there  are  twenty-two  other  institutions,  some  of  them  connected  with 
the  leading  universities,  where  women  are  educated. 

4  The  leaders  of  organized  labor  generally  consider  that  the  competition  of  women 
has  to  some  extent  diminished  the  earnings  of  men.    On  the  other  hand,  some  writers 
on  political  economy  believe  that  the  opening  of  many  occupations  to  women  has  a 


600         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY          [1900- 

586.  The  "open  door"  in  China;  the  Samoan  Islands;  The 
Hague  Treaty.  In  1900  Secretary  Hay,  of  the  State  Department, 
won  a  signal  victory  for  American  trade  in  China.  Great  Britain, 
with  four  of  the  leading  continental  nations  and  Japan,  had  ob 
tained  control  of  important  ports  and  areas  of  Chinese  territory. 
England  was  anxious  that  commerce  should  have  free  access  to 
these  privileged  areas,  but  the  other  powers  refused  to  consent. 
Secretary  Hay  by  skillful  diplomacy  accomplished  the  great  work. 
He  secured  a  written  pledge  from  each  of  the  powers  by  which 
they  bound  themselves  to  maintain  the  policy  of  the  "  open  door." 
This  agreement  gives  American  manufacturers  and  merchants  the 
same  right  to  buy  and  sell  goods  in  the  Chinese  Empire  that  any 
foreign  nation  now  possesses. 

Shortly  after  this  negotiation  was  completed  the  Senate  rat 
ified  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain  and  Germany.  It  divided 
the  control  of  the  Samoan  Islands  between  Germany  and  the 
United  States,  so  that  we  hold  entire  sovereignty  over  two  of 
the  islands. 

Following  this  action  the  Senate  ratified  The  Hague  Peace 
Conference  Treaty.  This  treaty  or  convention  provides  that  the 
United  States  in  connection  with  the  principal  powers  of  Europe 
and  with  Japan  shall  maintain  a  perpetual  Court  of  Arbitration 
at  The  Hague.  The  object  sought  is  to  endeavor  to  settle  inter 
national  disputes  by  the  pen  instead  of  the  sword  (§  526).  No 
one  expects  that  the  Court  will  put  an  end  to  war,  but  it  is  hoped 
that  it  will  help  to  make  war  less  frequent.1 

tendency  to  check  early  marriages  and  is  favorable  to  the  improvement  of  the  race. 
See  Giddings'  Democracy  and  Empire,  168-176.  Early  in  1900  the  American  Feder 
ation  of  Labor  petitioned  Congress  to  adopt  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Consti 
tution  which  should  secure  woman  suffrage  throughout  the  United  States.  The 
National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  is  working  to  make  this  movement  a  success, 
while  the  Anti- Woman  Suffrage  Association,  composed  like  the  first  organization 
mainly  of  women,  is  battling  against  the  movement.  For  representative  books  on 
the  subject  see  Mrs.  M.  A.  Livermore's  Woman's  Work  in  America,  advocating 
woman  suffrage,  and  Mrs.  Helen  K.  Johnson's  Woman  and  the  Republic,  taking  the 
opposite  ground. 

1  The  first  decision  made  by  The  Hague  Tribunal  (1902),  relating  to  the  Mexican 
"  Pious  Fund,"  was  in  favor  of  the  United  States. 


1900-]         RECONSTRUCTION,   THE    NEW   NATION         6oi 

587.  The  Gold  Standard  Act ;  the  Porto  Rican  Tariff  and  Gov 
ernment  Act.  In  the  spring  of  1900  Congress  passed  two  acts  of 
great  importance,  —  one  relating  to  the  financial  policy  of  the 
government,  the  other  to  the  Island  of  Porto  Rico. 

The  first  coinage  act  passed  more  than  a  century  ago  (1792) 
made  the  silver  dollar  the  unit  of  value  (§255).  After  1873  the 
"  free-silver "  question  was  hotly  debated  in  Congress  and  out, 
and  found  expression  in  noteworthy  acts  of  legislation  (§§528,  * 
535*  555>  562)-  The  act  of  19°°  makes  tne  g°ld  dollar  "the 
standard  unit  of  value  "  and  requires  that  all  other  forms  of  money 
issued  or  coined  by  the  United  States  shall  be  maintained  at  a 
parity  of  value  with  this  dollar.1 

The  Porto  Rican  Tariff  and  Government  Bill  roused  prolonged 
and  heated  discussion.  A  strong  minority  in  Congress  urged  that 
the  Island  should  be  regarded  as  standing  on  the  same  basis  as 
that  of  all  our  national  territory  in  the  past,  and  that  all  commerce 
between  the  United  States  and  Porto  Rico  should  be  absolutely 
free. 

But  Congress  finally  decided  to  levy  a  small  duty  (15  per  cent 
of  that  levied  by  the  Dingley  tariff)  on  merchandise  "  coming  into 
the  United  States  from  Porto  Rico  and  coming  into  Porto  Rico 
from  the  United  States."  This  tax  was  to  be  in  force  for  two  years, 
and  the  revenue  so  collected  was  to  be  used  for  the  benefit  of 
Porto  Rico. 

The  governmental  provisions  of  the  act 2  declare  :  First,  that  the 
"Citizens  of  Porto  Rico"  are  "entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 

1  The  Gold  Standard  Bill  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  196  to  144  in  the  House,  and 
of  42  to  28  in  the  Senate ;  it  was  approved  March  14,  1900.    Besides  making  gold 
the  standard  of  value  the  act  provides  for  refunding  the  public  debt  by  the  issue  of 
two-per-cent  30  years  bonds,  payable  principal  and  interest  in  gold.    It  grants  the 
power  to  establish  national  banks  of  small  capital  in  places  having  a  population  of 
not  more  than  5000.    Finally,  it  provides  for  the  accomplishment  of  international 
bimetallism  whenever  it  shall  be  "  expedient  and  practicable  to  secure  the  same  by 
concurrent  action  of  the  leading  commercial  nations  of  the  world."  See  United  States 
Statutes  at  Large  for  1900  or  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia  for  1900,  156. 

2  The  Porto  Rican  Bill  was  amended  by  the  Senate ;  it  then  passed  the  House, 
April  n,  1900,  by  a  majority  of  eight  votes  (161  to  153).     Nine  Republicans  voted 
against  it,  and  one  Democrat  for  it. 


602          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY         [1900- 

United  States."  Secondly,  they  provide  for  a  governor  and  upper 
House  of  Legislature  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  and  also 
for  a  lower  House  to  be  elected  by  the  people.  All  laws  enacted 
by  the  Legislature  must  be  approved  by  Congress.  In  1901  entire 
freedom  of  trade  was  established  between  the  United  States  and 
Porto  Rico. 

The  "Citizens  of  Porto  Rico  "  are  not,  in  law,  "  citizens  of  the 
United  States  " l  and  they  are  not  represented  by  a  delegate  in 
Congress.2 

588.  The  proposed  Isthmian  Canal ;  the  census  of  1900.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  (§  405)  suggested  the  project  of 
an  Isthmian  Canal  by  way  of  Nicaragua  in  order  to  secure  direct 
water  communication  between  the  East  and  the  West.  At  that 
time  England  claimed  control  over  part  of  the  coast  of  Nicaragua. 
The  Clay  ton- Bulwer  Treaty  concluded  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  (1850)  provided  for  the  construction  of  the 
projected  canal.  By  the  terms  of  that  agreement  the  neutrality  of 
the  canal  was  guaranteed,  and  it  was  to  be  kept  "  open  and  free  " 
forever,  "for  the  benefit  of  mankind."  But  the  true  interpreta 
tion  of  these  provisions  gave  rise  to  more  disputes  than  there  were 
articles  in  the  treaty.  President  Hayes  and  Secretary  Blaine  both 
insisted  that  it  must  be  modified,  and  that  the  United  States  must 
hold  control  of  such  an  ocean  thoroughfare  when  completed. 

Early  in  1900  the  government  sent  a  commission  to  explore 
and  report  on  the  best  route  for  such  an  undertaking.  Shortly 
afterward  the  Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  respecting  an  interoceanic 
canal,  was  negotiated  to  take  the  place  of  the  unsatisfactory 
Clay  ton- Bulwer  Treaty.  The  whole  question  respecting  the  pro 
posed  Canal  was  decided  two  years  later  (§  594). 

1  See  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  1901. 

2  The  Constitution  (page  xiv,  §  3)  gives  Congress  absolute  control  over  all  terri 
tory  of  the  United  States.     In  fully  organized  Territories,  of  the  first  class,  the  gov 
ernment  generally  consists  of  a  governor  and  executive  council  appointed  by  the 
President,  and  a  House  of  Representatives  elected  by  the  people.     All  laws  made  by 
the  Territorial  Legislature  are  subject  to  the  veto  of  Congress.     The  people  of  the 
Territory  are  entitled  to  send  a  delegate  to  Congress  to  represent  them.     This  dele 
gate  sits  in  the  House  and  has  the  right  to  take  part  in  all  debates  but  not  to  vote. 


1900-]         RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         603 

The  census  of  1900  showed  that  the  total  population  of  the 
United  States,  including  Hawaii,  was  76,304,799,  —  or  a  gain  of 
nearly  21  per  cent  on  the  returns  of  1890  (§  556). 

589.  The  presidential  election  (1900).  The  three  chief  ques 
tions  in  dispute  between  the  Republican  and  the  Democratic  par 
ties,  as  set  forth  in  their  platforms,1  were  :  (i)  imperialism  vs. 
expansion  ;  (2)  trusts ;  (3)  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver. 

The  Republicans  renominated  William  McKinley  for  the  presi 
dency,  with  Theodore  Roosevelt  for  the  vice  presidency  (§  566). 
The  Democrats  renominated  William  J.  Bryan,  with  Adlai  Stevenson 
for  vice  president  (§  566). 

In  their  national  platform  the  Democrats  stated  :  First,  that  they 
regarded  "  imperialism"  2  as  the  paramount  issue  of  the  campaign. 
They  declared  :  "  We  are  not  opposed  to  territorial  expansion 
when  it  takes  in  desirable  territory  which  can  be  erected  into 
states  in  the  Union,  and  whose  people  are  willing  and  fit  to 
become  American  citizens.  We  favor  expansion  by  every  peace 
ful  and  legitimate  means ;  but  we  are  unalterably  opposed  to  the 
seizing  of  distant  islands  to  be  governed  outside  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  whose  people  can  never  become  citizens"  (§  582). 

Secondly,  the  Democratic  party  pledged  themselves  to  "an 
unceasing  warfare"  against  "trusts"  (§  569). 

Thirdly,  the  Democrats  reaffirmed  their  platform  of  1896,  which 
demanded  "  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  and  gold  at 
the  present  legal  ratio  of  1 6  to  i ,  without  waiting  for  the  consent 
of  any  other  nation"  (§  566). 

1  No  less  than  ten  more  national  platforms  were  adopted  in  1900.     They  repre 
sented  the  People's  party  (Fusionists) ;  the  "  Middle  of  the  Road"  People's  party; 
the  Prohibition  party;  the  United  Christian  party;  the  Silver  Republican  party;  the 
Socialist  Labor  party ;  the  Social  Democratic  party ;  the  National  party ;  the  Anti- 
Imperialists  ;   the  National  Democratic  party  (Gold  Democracy).     None  of  these 
parties  secured  electoral  votes  for  their  candidates.     Six  of  them  nominated  candi 
dates  for  the  presidency  and  obtained  a   few  popular  votes,  the  highest  number 
recorded  being  208,555  cast  for  the  Prohibition  candidates.     See  McKee's  National 
Conventions  and  Platforms,  330-370,  or  Stanwood's  Presidency. 

2  In  the  political  discussions  of  the  campaign  the  Democrats  denned  "  imperial 
ism  "  as  the  policy  of  governing  colonial  possessions  by  force  in  contrast  to  a  policy 
of  expansion  granting  full  self-government  to  such  colonies. 


604        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY      [1900-1901 

The  Republicans  in  their  national  platform  made  no  direct 
reference  to  "imperialism"  or  to  expansion  further  than  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  we  had  come  into  possession  of  the 
Philippines  as  a  result  of  the  Spanish  War  and  the  Treaty  of 
Paris  (§  581). 

First,  with  respect  to  the  people  of  those  Islands  they  declared, 
"The  largest  measure  of  self-government  consistent  with  their 
welfare  and  our  duties  shall  be  secured  to  them  by  law." 

Secondly,  with  respect  to  trusts  the  platform  recognized  "  the 
necessity  and  propriety  of  the  honest  cooperation  of  capital  to 
meet  new  business  conditions,  and  especially  to  extend  our 
rapidly  increasing  foreign  trade,"  but  it  condemned  all  "combi 
nations  intended  to  restrict  business  "  or  to  "  create  monopolies." 

Thirdly,  the  Republican  party  declared  their  "  steadfast  oppo 
sition  to  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver."  They  further 
more  stated  :  "  We  renew  our  allegiance  to  the  principle  of  the  gold 
standard  "  (§  587),  "  by  which  the  parity  of  all  our  money  and  the 
stability  of  our  currency  upon  a  gold  basis  has  been  secured." 

At  the  election  McKinley  received  292  electoral  votes  and 
Bryan  155.  The  popular  vote  stood  7,206,677  for  McKinley 
to  6,374,397  for  Bryan. 

590.  The  status  of  Cuba ;  second  inaugural  of  President  McKinley ; 
the  Philippines.  Geographers  inform  us  that,  from  their  point  of 
view,  Cuba  belongs  to  the  United  States  by  "  the  ground  plan  of 
the  world  "  ;  but  in  practical  politics  the  question  of  the  union 
of  the  two  countries  brought  out  widely  divergent  opinions.  It 
is  certain,  however,  that  under  American  control  Cuba  made 
remarkable  progress,  especially  in  respect  to  provision  for  educa 
tion.  At  the  beginning  of  our  occupancy  it  is  doubtful  if  a  single 
public  school  existed  on  the  island.  The  commissioner  reports 
that  early  in  1901  there  were  over  3500  schools,  with  an  enroll 
ment  of  nearly  175,000  pupils.  It  was  a  fact  full  of  significance 
and  of  promise  for  the  future. 

In  1901  the  Convention  of  Cuban  delegates,  who  were  called 
to  draft  a  constitution  of  government,  framed  a  republic  similar 


1901]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION         605 

in  many  respects  to  that  of  the  United  States.  Later,  Congress 
authorized  the  President l  to  leave  the  government  of  Cuba  to  its 
people  on  certain  conditions.  Two  of  the  most  important  of  these 
conditions  were  :  (i)  that  the  Cubans  should  never  enter  into  a 
treaty  with  any  foreign  power  which  should  in  any  way  impair 
their  independence;  (2)  that  they  should  bind  themselves  to 
recognize  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  intervene,  if  necessary, 
for  the  preservation  of  that  independence,  and  for  "  the  mainte 
nance  of  a  government  adequate  for  the  protection  of  life,  property, 
and  individual  liberty  "  on  the  island.  After  prolonged  discussion 
the  Cuban  Convention  finally  voted  by  a  majority  of  16  to  n  to 
accept  the  conditions  imposed. 

In  his  second  inaugural  address  (§568)  President  McKinley 
emphasized  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country;  better  still, 
he  said  :  "  Sectionalism  has  disappeared.  Division  on  public 
questions  can  no  longer  be  traced  by  the  war  maps  of  1861." 

In  the  Philippines  (1901)  the  capture  of  Aguinaldo,  the  Filipino 
leader,  was  followed  by  his  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
United  States.  He  shortly  afterwards  issued  an  address  to  his  coun 
trymen,  urging  them  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  to  acknowledge 
the  sovereignty  of  the  American  flag.  Since  that  period  the  Phil 
ippine  Commission,  appointed  by  the  United  States,  reports  that 
marked  progress  has  been  made  in  establishing  local  self-govern 
ment  in  the  Islands  and  in  opening  public  schools.  At  present, 
while  there  are  occasional  outbreaks  of  guerrilla  warfare  among  the 
Moro  tribes,  no  resistance  to  the  United  States  occurs  elsewhere. 

591.  The  Supreme  Court  and  our  new  territorial  possessions; 
the  Pan-American  Exposition ;  assassination  of  the  President. 
Late  in  May,  1901,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
decided  the  vital  question  of  the  constitutional  relations  of  our 
new  island  possessions  to  the  nation. 

The  court  declared,  in  substance,  by  a  majority  of  five  to  four, 
first,  that  the  Constitution  does  not  necessarily  follow  the  flag, 

1  By  the  Platt  Amendment  to  the  Army  Appropriation  Bill,  1901.  See  United 
States  Statutes  at  Large  for  1901,  or  Appbton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia  for  1901,  169. 


6o6          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY   [1901-1902 

and  secondly,  that  Congress  has  full  power  to  deal  as  it  sees  fit 
with  all  our  recently  acquired  island  territory.1 

In  May,  1902,  the  United  States  authorities  hauled  down  the 
American  flag  at  Havana  and  officially  recognized  the  conditional 
independence  (§  590)  of  the  Cuban  Republic. 

Meanwhile  in  the  spring  of  1901  the  Pan-American  Exposition 
(§553)  was  opened  at  Buffalo.  In  one  important  respect  it 
differed  from  any  international  exhibition  heretofore  held  in  this 
country,  since  it  was  organized  to  celebrate  the  progress  made 
by  all  the  nations  of  North,  South,  and  Central  America,  and  to 
take  steps  to  advance  their  common  commercial  interests. 

President  McKinley  attended  the  exposition  in  September,  and 
there  delivered  his  last  speech.  He  pleaded  for  "a  policy  of 
good  will  and  friendly  trade  relations";  and  declared  his  belief 
that  if  the  United  States  would  adopt  such  a  policy  leading  to 
broader  and  freer  intercourse  with  foreign  nations  it  would  even 
tually  benefit  all  concerned. 

The  following  day  (September  6)  the  President  gave  a  public 
reception  at  the  exposition.  As  he  was  extending  his  hand  to 
grasp  that  of  a  young  man,2  the  latter  deliberately  shot  him  twice 
with  a  revolver.  The  assassin  openly  boasted  that  he  was  an 
anarchist  (§  547)  whose  object  was  to  overthrow  the  government. 

The  President  died  of  his  wounds  about  a  week  later  (Septem 
ber  14),  and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitu 
tion  (§  548;  Appendix,  page  xii,  §  2),  Vice  President  Roosevelt 
(§  589)  became  President. 

When  he  entered  office  he  declared  that  it  would  be  his  aim  "  to 
continue  absolutely  unbroken  the  policy  of  President  McKinley." 

1  The  Chief  Justice,  who  was  one  of  the  four  dissenting  judges,  said  that  the 
court  considered  that  "  Congress  in  dealing  with  the  people  of  new  territories  or 
possessions  is  bound  to  respect  the  fundamental  guarantees  of  life,  liberty,  and  prop 
erty,  but  assumes  that  Congress  is  not  bound  in  these  territories  or  possessions  to 
follow  the  rules  of  taxation  prescribed  by  the  Constitution." 

2  Leon  F.  Czolgosz  (Chol'gosh) :  he  was  an  American  by  birth,  the  son  of  Polish 
emigrants  who  had  come  to  the  United  States.     He  was  executed  October  29,  1901, 
at  Auburn,   New  York.     Compare  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  by  a  sectionalist 
(§  506)  and  that  of  Garfield  by  a  partisan  (§  539). 


1901-1903]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION       607 

President  McKinley  was  buried  (September  19)  at  his  former 
home  in  Canton,  Ohio.  Throughout  the  United  States  and  in 
many  of  the  cities  of  Europe  the  occasion  was  solemnly  kept  as 
one  of  "  mourning  and  prayer."  Perhaps  no  day  in  our  history 
as  a  nation  has  made  a  deeper  and  more  abiding  impression  on 
the  hearts  of  the  American  people.  While  paying  their  tribute 
of  sorrow  to  the  memory  of  the  dead  chief  magistrate,  men  every 
where  silently  resolved  that,  come  what  might,  no  anarchist,  or 
no  body  of  anarchists,  should  ever  with  murder-stained  hands  cast 
down  the  pillars  of  the  Republic. 

592.  The  anthracite  coal  strike;  wireless  telegraphy;  the 
American  Pacific  cable.  In  the  spring  of  1902  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  the  anthracite  region  in  Pennsylvania  struck  for  higher 
wages  and  shorter  hours.  This  action  closed  all  of  the  hard-coal 
mines.  Late  in  the  autumn  the  strike  was  settled  by  a  commission 
of  arbitration1  appointed  by  President  Roosevelt,  both  sides  in 
the  controversy  having  agreed  to  accept  their  decision. 

The  commission  conceded  a  moderate  increase  of  pay  and  made 
some  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
coal  workers  bound  themselves  not  to  interfere  with  non-union 
men  engaged  in  the  mines.  Both  employers  and  employees  were 
to  refer  any  further  disputes,  which  might  arise  during  the  space 
of  three  years,  to  a  board  of  arbitrators. 

The  total  direct  cost  of  the  strike  was  estimated  at  nearly 
$100,000,000.  To  this  enormous  loss  must  be  added  the  still 
greater  loss  and  suffering  which  all  classes  of  the  community  had 
to  bear  in  consequence  of  the  short  supply  of  coal  during  the 
severe  winter  of  1902-1903.  These  reasons  make  this  labor 
controversy  take  rank  among  the  chief  of  our  "  historic  strikes  " 

(§§  534,  547,  557)- 

The  beginning  of  the  next  year  marked  a  signal  advance  in  the 
development  of  a  very  remarkable  invention.  On  January  19, 

1  The  commission  consisted  of  Judge  George  Gray  of  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court,  Thomas  H.  Watkins,  General  John  M.  Wilson,  E.  W.  Parker,  E.  E.  Clark, 
Bishop  John  L.  Spalding,  and  Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright. 


6o8          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY  [1903 

1903,  President  Roosevelt  made  use  of  the  Marconi  wireless  tele 
graph  to  send  a  message  of  congratulation  to  King  Edward  of 
England.  The  telegram  was  dispatched  from  the  station  at  Well- 
fleet,  Cape  Cod.  It  was  the  first  message  of  the  kind  ever 
sent  across  the  Atlantic.  It  proved  the  possibility  of  making 
the  atmosphere  a  silent  medium  of  communication  between 
America  and  Europe. 

Less  than  six  months  later,  an  electric  cable  was  completed  be 
tween  San  Francisco,  Hawaii,  and  Manila,  —  a  distance  of  nearly 
8000  miles,  —  thence  connecting  with  a  cable  to  Hongkong. 
This  Pacific  cable,  like  the  first  ocean  line  laid  more  than  forty 
years  before  (§  520),  was  the  work  of  our  countrymen.  On  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1903,  the  President  took  part  in  the  celebration 
of  the  event  by  sending  a  telegram  around  the  globe  over  the 
new  line.  It  passed  from  point  to  point,  across  Asia,  and  thence 
across  Europe  and  the  British  Isles,  back  to  the  President's  sum 
mer  residence  at  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island,  New  York.  It  was 
America's  greeting  to  the  nations  of  the  world. 

593.  Settlement  of  the  Alaska  Boundary  question.     For  some 
years  there  had  been  a  dispute  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  respecting  the  Alaska  boundary.    This  was  satisfac 
torily  settled  in  the  autumn  of  1903  by  a  tribunal  of  arbitration 
appointed  by  the  two  countries. 

The  award' of  that  tribunal  decided  the  principal  points  in  favor 
of  our  claims.  It  confirmed  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  the 
entire  control  of  an  important  strip  of  the  main  shore  of  Alaska, 
and  it  also  conceded  our  jurisdiction  over  a  valuable  mining  dis 
trict.  The  decision  was,  as  the  President  declared,  "  a  signal  proof 
of  the  fairness  and  good  will  with  which  two  friendly  nations  can 
approach  and  determine  issues  involving  national  sovereignty."  ] 

594.  The  Isthmian  Canal  question  decided.    In  1902  Congress 
passed  an  act  empowering  the  President  to  purchase  the  canal 
(§  588)    which    a    French    company    had    partially    constructed 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.     The  price  to  be  paid  was  not  to 

1  See  the  President's  Annual  Message  for  1903. 


10KM904]     RECONSTRUCTION,  THE    NEW   NATION       609 

exceed  $40,000,000.  As  the  canal  ran  through  the  territory  of 
Colombia,  a  treaty  for  right  of  way  was  signed,  but  was  rejected 
(1903)  by  that  Republic. 

The  same  year  (1903)  the  people  of  Panama  declared  them 
selves  independent  of  Colombia,  and  the  desired  right  of  way  was 
obtained  by  treaty  with  the  new  Republic  of  Panama.1  Payment 
for  the  canal  was  made  in  the  course  of  the  following  year.  The 
completion  of  the  great  work  by  the  United  States  is  now  assured. 
When  finished  it  will  secure  to  our  country  the  absolute  owner 
ship  of  a  water  way  of  world-wide  importance.  It  will  open  a 
new  passage  for  the  commerce  of  all  nations  on  the  globe ;  it 
will  give  our  naval  vessels  and  our  merchant  ships  direct,  ready, 
and  undisputed  access  to  the  Pacific  coast  and  to  our  island  pos 
sessions  in  the  East ;  and  it  will  enhance  our  growing  trade  with 
China,  India,  Australia,  and  Japan. 

595.  The  Exposition  at  St.  Louis ;  farm  products ;  commercial 
exhibits;  machinery;  the  "manufacture  of  power."  In  the  spring 
of  1904  a  World's  Fair  was  opened  at  St.  Louis  to  commemorate 
the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  our  acquisition  of  the  territory  of 
Louisiana  (§  280).  The  Exposition  was  on  a  scale  commensurate 
with  the  importance  of  the  event  it  celebrated.  It  was  admirably  cal 
culated  to  show  the  marvelous  progress  made  by  the  country  be 
tween  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  a  century's  time. 
The  growth  of  St.  Louis  itself  is  characteristic  of  the  growth  of 
that  section  of  the  West  which  it  represents.  Three  generations 
ago  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  frontier  fur-trading  post  with 
Indians  and  trappers.  It  consisted  of  a  stockaded  fort  and  a  few 
whitewashed  log  huts.  To-day  it  is  the  fourth  largest  city  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  wilderness  which  Jefferson  sent  Lewis  and 

1  By  the  terms  of  this  treaty  the  Republic  of  Panama  received  $10,000,000  bonus 
and  the  guarantee  of  its  independence.  In  return  that  Republic  granted  the  United 
States  a  hundred  years'  lease  of  a  strip  of  territory  ten  miles  in  width  and  extending 
across  the  Isthmus  from  ocean  to  ocean.  The  United  States  has  power  to  renew 
this  lease  from  century  to  century.  The  Panama  Canal,  when  completed,  will  reduce 
the  distance  by  sea  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  from  about  14,000  miles  to  a  little 
over  5000.  On  the  canal  and  the  treaty  see  Poole's  Index  to  Reviews  for  1903 
and  1904. 


6lO          THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY          [1904 

Clark  to  explore  in  1804  (§  283)  has  more  than  half  a  score  of 
rapidly  growing  cities  in  the  north,  south,  and  west,  and  a  total 
population  of  upwards  of  14,000,000. 

Three  noteworthy  features  of  the  St.  Louis  fair  were  the  farm 
products,  the  commercial  exhibits,  and  the  display  of  machinery 
in  motion.  In  the  first  of  these  departments  the  visitor  saw  some 
fruits  of  the  gigantic  national  harvest  worth  nearly  $5,000,000,- 
ooo.1  He  also  saw  steam  plows  capable  of  turning  seven  furrows 
at  a  time,  thirty-horse  harvesters,  which  reap,  thrash,  and  put  up 
the  grain  in  bags  on  the  field,  and  the  not  less  wonderful  new 
machines  for  gathering  corn.  Next,  the  department  of  commerce 
covered  exports  and  imports  representing  a  total  foreign  trade  of 
$2,450,000,000  as  compared  with  a  total  of  less  than  $1,550,000,- 
ooo  ten  years  ago.  Finally,  the  forty  thousand  horse  power  of 
moving  machinery  showed  the  marvelous  change  which  has  been 
effected  in  our  control  of  natural  forces. 

When  Lewis  and  Clark  laboriously  worked  their  way  westward 
(1804)  a  steam  engine  of  any  kind  was  a  curiosity.  One  could 
count  on  his  fingers  the  whole  number  then  in  use  in  the  United 
States  and  still  have  several  fingers  to  spare.  Men  then  did 
the  greater  part  of  their  work  by  manual  labor  or  by  making  the 
horse  and  the  ox  their  servants.  At  the  best  they  had  got  no 
further  than  compelling  the  wind  and  the  water  to  grind  their 
grain,  weave  their  cloth,  and  forge  their  iron. 

The  steam  engine  marked  a  new  departure.  Then,  for  the 
first  time  in  history,  men  began  to  manufacture  power.  That 
made  them  independent  of  wind  and  stream,  for  wherever  fuel 
and  water  could  be  readily  obtained  steam  could  be  employed 
and  physical  energy  could  be  generated  and  multiplied  at  will. 
With  the  invention  of  the  electric  dynamo  another  long  step  for 
ward  was  taken,2  since  that  made  it  possible  to  transmit  power  as 

1  The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  estimated  the  value  of  the  total  farm  products  of 
1904  at  $4,900,000,000;  but  in  1905  it  reached  $6,000,000,000. 

2  The  "harnessing"  of  Niagara  Falls  and  of  the  "  Soo"  Canal  as  generators  and 
transmitters  of  electric  power  show  what  has  been  done  on  a  large  scale. 


1904]          RECONSTRUCTION,  THE   NEW   NATION         6ll 

well  as  manufacture  and  multiply  it.  The  machinery  exhibited 
in  motion  at  St.  Louis  was  a  demonstration  of  the  great  fact, 
emphasized  by  the  late  president  of  the  American  Society  of 
Civil  Engineers,  that  we  can  now  practically  produce  unlimited 
power  wherever  it  is  needed ;  for  every  steam  engine  and  every 
dynamo  can  be  used  as  a  tool  to  make  a  greater  one  or  to  increase 
to  any  desired  degree  the  number  already  existing.  If  we  add 
to  this  the  long-distance  telephone  as  an  auxiliary,  we  see  how 
a  single  corporation,  or  even  a  single  man,  may  direct  and 
carry  on  great  industries  at  points  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
apart.  Never  before  did  we  have  so  completely  at  our  com 
mand  the  natural  forces  which  we  control  to-day.  Never  before 
could  we  manufacture,  multiply,  and  transmit  these  forces  as  we 
can  at  present.  The  economic  history  of  the  United  States,  in  its 
relation  to  the  world,  must  in  the  future  depend  in  large  measure 
on  the  wise  development  and  right  use  of  this  new  power.1 

596.  The  presidential  election  (1904).  The  Republican  Con 
vention  nominated  Theodore  Roosevelt  of  New  York  as  President, 
with  Charles  W.  Fairbanks  of  Indiana  as  Vice  President.  Their 
platform  declared  protection  to  be  "  a  cardinal  policy  of  the 
Republican  party."  It  proclaimed  its  intention  to  safeguard  all 
lawful  combinations  of  either  capital  or  labor ;  it  upheld  the  gold 
standard  (§  587)  ;  it  favored  commercial  reciprocity  when  not  in 
jurious  to  American  interests ;  and  it  declared  that  the  Republican 
leaders  had  conferred  upon  the  people  of  the  Philippines  "  the 
largest  civil  liberty  they  have  ever  enjoyed." 

The  Democratic  Convention  nominated  Alton  B.  Parker  of 
New  York  as  President,  with  Henry  G.  Davis  of  West  Virginia 
as  Vice  President.  The  Democratic  platform  denounced  the  pro 
tective  policy  of  the  Republicans  and  demanded  a  revision  and 
gradual  reduction  of  the  tariff.  It  condemned  "  trusts  "  (§  569) 
as  a  "menace  to  beneficial  competition."  It  condemned  "im 
perialism"  (§§582,  589)  as  unjust,  and  declared  that  the  govern 
ment  had  no  right  to  make  "  one  set  of  laws  for  those  at  home 

1  See  Morison's  The  New  Epoch  —  the  Manufacture  of  Power,  ch.  i-v. 


612         THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY     [1901-1906 

and  another  and  a  different  set  of  laws,  absolute  in  their  charac 
ter,  for  those  in  the  colonies."  Judge  Parker  accepted  his  nomi 
nation  with  the  understanding  that  he  was  fully  committed  to  the 
gold  standard.  Seven  minor  parties  appeared  in  the  field.1 

The  election  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  the  Republicans ;  the 
total  electoral  vote  cast  for  Mr.  Roosevelt  being  336  to  140  cast 
for  Judge  Parker. 

597.  The  "merit  system";  arbitrations;  higher  education; 
enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal;  municipal  ownership.  President 
Roosevelt  has  shown  himself  an  ardent  friend  of  the  "  merit 
system,"  which  has  done  so  much  to  improve  the  civil  service 
(§§  533)  565).  The  total  number  of  persons  now  employed  in 
that  department  is  over  300,000,  and  more  than  1 70,000  of  these 
are  appointed  by  competitive  examination.2  The  President  further 
recommends  that  Congress  do  everything  in  its  power  to  improve 
the  consular  service.  He  insists  that  it  cannot  promote  the  true 
business  interests  of  the  country  unless  the  men  appointed  to  it 
are  specially  fitted  to  represent  us  abroad. 

Since  Washington  entered  office  up  to  1900  the  United  States 
has  been  a  party  to  rifty-seven  arbitrations,  some  of  which  have 
been  of  the  first  importance  (§§  565,  593).3  These  arbitrations 
have  settled  questions  about  boundaries,  fisheries,  and  claims  for 
damages.  Again  (1905),  a  general  arbitration  treaty  was  nego 
tiated  with  Mexico  and  fifteen  other  Central  American  or  South 
American  republics  for  the  settlement  of  all  questions  of  a 
pecuniary  nature. 

Formerly  these  disputes  usually  ended  in  war;  now  they  are 
generally  settled  by  international  commissions.  They  are  "  the 

1  They  were  the  Prohibition,   People's,  Socialist,   Socialist  Labor,  Continental 
(Labor),  National  Liberty  (Negro),  and  Lincoln  (Negro)  parties.     None  of  them 
obtained  electoral  votes,  but  the  Socialist  party  claimed  over  600,000  votes  and 
the  People's  party  claimed  500,000. 

2  See  Report  of  the  United  States  Civil  Service,  June  30, 1905  ;  of  those  not  sub 
ject  to  civil-service  examination  by  far  the  greater  part  are  fourth-class  postmasters 
and  laborers.  Beside  these  the  President,  with  the  confirmation  of  the  Senate,  appoints 
7233  persons  who  are  specially  exempted  from  passing  competitive  examinations. 

«  See  Moore's  American  Diplomacy  and  C.  W.  Eliot's  Essays. 


190^1906]     RECONSTRUCTION,   THE   NEW   NATION       613 

victories  which  bring  no  tears."  The  United  States  has  perhaps 
done  more  than  any  other  great  power  to  further  this  peaceful 
method.  Since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  —  a  period  con 
siderably  exceeding  a  century  —  we  have  spent  only  about  seven 
years  in  foreign  wars,1  and  with  the  exception  of  one,  all  were 
fought  in  behalf  of  liberty  and  humanity.  In  the  same  spirit, 
President  Roosevelt  used  his  efforts  successfully  (1905)  to  help 
Japan  and  Russia  put  an  end  to  their  terrible  contest. 

James  Bryce,  the  distinguished  English  statesman  and  publicist, 
has  lately  called  attention  to  our  progress,  as  a  people,  in  another 
direction.  Noting  the  establishment  of  Cornell  University  (i  868), 
and  Johns  Hopkins  University  (1876),  followed  by  Tulane  (1884), 
Clark  (1889),  Leland  Stanford  (1891),  Chicago  (1892),  and  the 
Carnegie  Institute  for  scientific  and  historical  research  (1901), 
Mr.  Bryce  says  that  the  "  development  of  the  higher  education 
in  the  United  States  is  perhaps  without  a  parallel  in  the  world."  2 

We  see  a  different  exhibition  of  the  energy  and  enterprise  of 
our  people  in  the  enlargement  and  improvement  of  the  Erie  Canal 
(§  338).  This  gigantic  undertaking,  involving  an  expenditure  of 
over  $100,000,000,  will  open  the  canal  to  fleets  of  1000  ton  barges 
moved  by  steam.  It  will  reduce  the  time  between  Buffalo  and 
New  York  from  twelve  days  to  six,  and  at  the  same  time  the  cost 
of  transportation  will  be  reduced  to  less  than  a  third  of  the  pres 
ent  rates,  so  that  wheat  can  be  carried  from  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Atlantic  for  less  than  a  cent  a  bushel.  This  will  make  bread 
cheaper  throughout  the  Eastern  states  and  in  Europe  besides. 

In  several  of  our  cities,  notably,  in  New  York,  Boston,  Seattle, 
and  Chicago,  municipal  ownership  has  advanced  to  a  certain 
extent.  The  two  former  cities  have  built  subways  for  electric 
cars;  the  third  has  taken  over  the  street  traction  lines,  and  the 
last  is  making  preparations  to  take  possession  of  them. 


1  Namely,  the  war  with  the  Barbary  States  (1805),  the  War  of  1812,  the  Mexican 
war,  and  the  war  with  Spain. 

2  See  Mr.  Bryce's  articles  in  the  Outlook,  March  25  and  April  i,  1905.    The  total 
number  of  such  institutions  (1905),  including  29  state  universities,  is  443. 


6 14          THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY    [1789-1906 

598.  General  survey  of  the  history  of  the  nation ;  the  United 
States  in  the  twentieth  century.  In  growth  of  population,  devel 
opment  of  natural  resources,  and  accumulation  of  wealth  the 
American  Republic  stands  at  the  head  of  the  civilized  nations 
of  the  globe. 

The  economic  progress  of  the  country  shows  that  here  labor- 
saving  inventions  have  reached  the  highest  perfection  ;  here  steam 
was  first  used  for  purposes  of  transportation  (§  286)  and  elec 
tricity  first  employed  to  transmit  intelligence  (§  385). 

Our  progress  on  higher  planes  is  not  less  evident.  Here  free 
public  schools  and  free  public  libraries  have  been  established  on 
a  scale  never  before  known ;  here  manhood  suffrage  has  become 
the  rule ;  here  entire  religious  toleration  was  first  granted  to  all 
men  (§  124). 

Within  the  lifetime  of  a  generation  civil-service  reform  has 
been  placed  on  a  secure  foundation  (§§  540,  565)  and  the  prin 
ciple  of  international  arbitration  recognized  (§§526,  562,  565). 
Within  the  same  time  slavery  has  been  abolished  forever  and  the 
Union  has  had  a  new  birth  in  the  hearts  of  the  whole  people. 

Now  we  have  entered  the  twentieth  century,  and  fresh  prob 
lems  meet  us.  They  are  the  result,  in  great  measure,  of  the 
progress  which  we  have  made.  They  challenge  our  best  powers. 
If  we  solve  them  successfully,  we  shall  add  a  chapter  to  American 
history  which  will  be  worthy  of  its  past,  and  which  cannot  fail  to 
instruct  and  encourage  all  who  read  it. 


DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE 


DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE. 

IN  CONGRESS,  JULY  4,  1776. 

A    DECLARATION    BY   THE  REPRESENTATIVES   OF  THE   UNITED 
STATES    OF   AMERICA,   IN    CONGRESS  1  ASSEMBLED. 

WHEN,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to 
dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to 
assume,  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the 
laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of 
mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the 
separation. 

1  The  First  Continental  or  General  Congress  met  in  Carpenters'  Hall,  Philadelphia,  Sep 
tember  5,  1774.  It  consisted  of  forty-four  delegates,  representing  eleven  of  the  thirteen 
colonies.  Later,  eleven  more  delegates  took  their  seats,  and  all  of  the  colonies  were  repre 
sented  except  Georgia,  which  promised  to  concur  with  "  her  sister  colonies  "  in  their  effort  to 
maintain  their  rights  as  English  subjects.  Peyton  Randolph  of  Virginia  was  elected  Presi 
dent  of  the  Congress.  Among  the  distinguished  men  who  had  assembled  there,  were  Washing 
ton,  Patrick  Henry,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  John  Dickinson,  William  Livingston,  John  Jay, 
John  Adams,  Samuel  Adams,  Roger  Sherman,  and  the  Rutledges  of  South  Carolina. 

On  the  i4th  of  October,  the  Congress  adopted  a  Declaration  of  Colonial  Rights.  On  the 
a6th,  a  Petition  to  the  King,  asking  the  redress  of  their  wrongs,  was  drawn  up. 

The  Second  Continental  Congress  (at  which  Georgia  was  represented)  met  in  Philadelphia, 
in  the  State  House  (Independence  Hall),  May  10,  1775.  A  second  Petition  to  the  King  was 
adopted,  and  Washington  was  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  Continental  army,  though 
Congress  still  denied  any  intention  of  separating  from  Great  Britain,  and  earnestly  expressed 
a  desire  for  the  peaceful  settlement  of  all  difficulties. 

The  King's  Proclamation,  declaring  the  Colonies  in  rebellion,  and  calling  for  volunteers  to 
force  them  to  submit  to  taxation  without  representation,  and  other  unjust  measures,  finally 
convinced  the  delegates  to  Congress  of  the  impossibility  of  our  continuing  our  allegiance  to  the 
English  crown. 

On  June  7,  1776,  Richard  Henry  Lee  of  Virginia  moved  "That  these  United  Colonies 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states."  John  Adams  of  Massachusetts 
seconded  the  motion. 

Later,  a  committee  of  five  —  Thomas  Jefferson  of  Virginia,  John  Adams  of  Massachusetts, 
Benjamin  Franklin  of  Pennsylvania,  Roger  Sherman  of  Connecticut,  and  Robert  R.  Living 
ston  of  New  York  —  was  appointed  to  draft  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Jefferson 
drew  up  the  paper,  though  a  few  alterations  were  made  in  it  by  the  committee  and  by 
Congress. 

It  was  adopted  on  the  evening  of  July  4,  1776,  and  signed  by  John  Hancock,  President  of 
Congress,  and  Charles  Thomson,  Secretary.  On  August  2,  1776,  it  was  signed  by  the  mem 
bers,  representing  all  the  thirteen  states. 


il  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident :  —  That  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that 
they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable  rights;  that  among 
these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  That,  to  secure  these  rights, 
governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed ;  that,  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of 
these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a 
new  government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its 
powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and 
happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate,  that  governments  long  established 
should  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient  causes ;  and  accordingly  all  experi 
ence  hath  shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer  while  evils  are  suffer- 
able,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 
But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  invariably  the  same 
object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right, 
it  is  their  duty,  to  throw  off  such  government,  and  to  provide  new  guards  for 
their  future  security.  Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of  these  colonies ;  and 
such  is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter  their  former  systems 
of  government.  The  history  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of 
repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having  in  direct  object  the  establishment  of 
an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  states.  To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a 
candid  world. 

He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  wholesome  and  necessary  for  the 
public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of  immediate  and  pressing  impor 
tance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his  assent  should  be  obtained ;  and 
when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation  of  large  districts  of 
people,  unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the  right  of  representation  in  the  legis 
lature  —  a  right  inestimable  to  them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual,  uncomfortable,  and 
distant  from  the  depository  of  their  public  records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing 
them  into  compliance  with  his  measure. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly,  for  opposing,  with  manly 
firmness,  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  people. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolutions,  to  cause  others  to  be 
elected,  whereby  the  legislative  powers,  incapable  of  annihilation,  have  returned  to 
the  people  at  large  for  their  exercise  ;  the  State  remaining,  in  the  mean  time,  exposed 
to  all  the  dangers  of  invasions  from  without,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States ;  for  that  purpose 
obstructing  the  laws  for  the  naturalization  of  foreigners ;  refusing  to  pass  others  to 
encourage  their  migration  hither,  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new  appropriations 
of  lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by  refusing  his  assent  to  laws 
for  establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone  for  the  tenure  of  their  offices, 
and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries. 


DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE  ill 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent  hither  swarms  of  officers  to 
harass  our  people  and  eat  out  their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us  in  times  of  peace,  standing  armies,  without  the  consent 
of  our  legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of,  and  superior  to,  the  civil 
power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  con 
stitutions,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws ;  giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pre 
tended  legislation : 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us ; 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  punishment  for  any  murders  which 
they  should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these  States ; 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world ; 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent ; 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits  of  trial  by  jury  ; 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas,  to  be  tried  for  pretended  offences ; 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a  neighboring  province,  estab 
lishing  therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and  enlarging  its  boundaries,  so  as  to 
render  it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same  absolute 
rule  into  these  colonies ; 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable  laws,  and  altering, 
fundamentally,  the  forms  of  our  governments  ; 

For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring  themselves  invested  with 
power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his  protection,  and 
waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burned  our  towns,  and  destroyed 
the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  mercenaries  to  complete 
the  works  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny,  already  begun  with  circumstances  of 
cruelty  and  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally 
unworthy  the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken  captive  on  the  high  seas,  to  bear 
arms  against  their  country,  to  become  the  executioners  of  their  friends  and  brethren, 
or  to  fall  themselves  by  their  hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrection  among  us,  and  has  endeavored  to  bring 
on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers  the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule 
of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions  we  have  petitioned  for  redress  in  the  most 
humble  terms;  our  repeated  petitions  have  been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury. 
A  prince  whose  character  is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is 
unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  our  attentions  to  our  British  brethren.  We  have 
warned  them,  from  time  to  time,  of  attempts  by  their  legislature  to  extend  an 
unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances 
of  our  emigration  and  settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to  their  native  justice 


IV 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


and  magnanimity;  and  we  have  conjured  them,  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kin 
dred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which  would  inevitably  interrupt  our  connec 
tions  and  correspondence.  They,  too,  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and 
consanguinity.  We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which  denounces 
our  separation,  and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in 
peace  friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  General 
Congress  assembled,  appealing  to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  recti 
tude  of  our  intentions,  do,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  good  people  of 
these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare,  That  these  united  Colonies  are,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states ;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all  political  connection  between  them  and 
the  state  of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved;  and  that,  as  free 
and  independent  states,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract 
alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  independent 
states  may  of  right  do.  And,  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance 
on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  lives, 
our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 


The  foregoing  Declaration  was,  by  order  of  Congress,  engrossed,  and  signed  by 
the  following  members :  — 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

JOSIAH  BARTLETT, 
WILLIAM  WHIPPLE, 
MATTHEW  THORNTON. 

MASSACHUSETTS  BAY. 

SAMUEL  ADAMS, 
JOHN  ADAMS, 
ROBERT  TREAT  PAINF., 
ELBRIDGE  GERRY. 

RHODE   ISLAND. 

STEPHEN  HOPKINS, 
WILLIAM  ELLERY. 

CONNECTICUT. 


JOHN   HANCOCK. 

NEW   JERSEY. 
RICHARD  STOCKTON, 
JOHN  WITHERSPOON, 
FRANCIS  HOPKINSON, 
JOHN  HART, 
ABRAHAM  CLARK. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

ROBERT  MORRIS, 
BENJAMIN  RUSH, 
BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 
JOHN  MORTON, 
GEORGE  CLYMER, 
JAMES  SMITH, 
GEORGE  TAYLOR, 
JAMES  WILSON, 


CHARLES  CARROLL,   of    Car 
rol  Iton. 

VIRGINIA. 
GEORGE  WYTHE, 
RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 
BENJAMIN  HARRISON, 
THOMAS  NELSON,  JR., 
FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE, 
CARTER  BRAXTON. 

NORTH   CAROLINA. 
WILLIAM  HOOPER, 
JOSEPH  HEWES, 
JOHN  PENN. 


ROGER  SHERMAN, 

OEORGE   KOSS. 

SOUTH   CAROLINA 

SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON, 

DELAWARE. 

EDWARD  RUTLEDGE, 

WILLIAM  WILLIAMS, 

CAESAR  RODNEY, 

THOMAS  HAYWARD,  JR., 

OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 

GEORGE  READ, 

THOMAS  LYNCH,  JR., 

NEW  YORK. 

THOMAS  M'KEAN. 

ARTHUR  MIDDLETON. 

WILLIAM  FLOYD, 

MARYLAND. 

GEORGIA. 

PHILIP  LIVINGSTON, 

SAMUEL  CHASE, 

BUTTON  GWINNETT, 

FKANCIS  LEWIS, 

WILLIAM  PACA, 

LYMAN  HALL, 

LEWIS  MORRIS. 

THOMAS  STONE, 

GEORGE  WALTON. 

DECLARATION   OF    INDEPENDENCE  V 

Resolved,  That  copies  of  the  Declaration  be  sent  to  the  several  assemblies,  con 
ventions,  and  committees,  or  councils  of  safety,  and  to  the  several  commanding 
officers  of  the  continental  troops;  that  it  be  proclaimed  in  each  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  head  of  the  army. 


Vi  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES.1 

WE,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more,  perfect  union, 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  pro 
mote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  CONSTITUTION  for  the  United  States  of 
America.  * 

ARTICLE    I. 

SECTION  i.  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress2 
of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

1  Before  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  July  4,  1776,  the  Thirteen  Colonies  were  subject 
to  the  king  of  Great  Britain.     From  July  4,  1776,  the  United  States  of  America  were  governed 
by  a  Continental  or  General  Congress,  until  March  i,  1781,  when  the  states  adopted  a  con 
stitution,  called  the  "Articles  of  Confederation  and  Perpetual  Union  between  the  States." 
The  Confederation  had  no  president,  no  supreme  court ;  and  consisted  of  a  single  house  of 
Congress,  made  up  of  delegates  elected  by  the  legislatures  of  the  states.    Under  this  constitu 
tion  Congress  continued  to  govern  —  in  so  far  as  a  body  with  no  practical  authority  can  be 
said  to  govern  —  until  March  4,  1789  ;  but  on  May  14,  1787,  a  convention  of  delegates  from 
all  the  states,  except  Rhode  Island,  met  in  Philadelphia  "  to  form  a  more  perfect  union  "  (see 
the  opening  words  of  the  Constitution  above).     The  whole  number  of  delegates  that  attended 
was  fifty-five,  but  only  thirty-nine  signed  the  Constitution.     The  Articles  of  Confederation 
had  been  made  by  the  States  only ;  but  as  the  opening  words  of  the  new  compact  declare, 
"We,  the  People"  made  the  Constitution. 

George  Washington  presided  over  the  convention,  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  Robert  Morris, 
James  Madison,  Rufus  King,  Roger  Sherman,  Alexander  Hamilton,  John  Dickinson,  Charles 
C.  Pinckney,  Charles  Pinckney,  J.  Rutledge,  and  Gouverneur  Morris,  were  among  its  distin 
guished  members. 

Madison,  Hamilton,  Washington,  and  Franklin  took  the  leading  part  in  the  great  work  of 
drafting  the  new  Constitution,  and  after  its  adoption  by  the  convention,  Madison  and  Hamil 
ton  used  their  influence,  with  great  effect,  to  urge  its  ratification  by  the  states,  especially  by 
New  York  (see  their  papers  in  the  Federalist). 

After  a  stormy  session  of  nearly  four  months,  during  which  the  convention  several  times 
threatened  to  break  up  in  hopeless  dispute,  the  Constitution  was  at  last  adopted.  (For  the 
compromises  on  which  it  rested,  see  page  234.) 

While  the  members  of  the  convention  were  signing  the  Constitution  (for  its  leading  pro 
visions,  see  page  235),  the  venerable  Dr.  Franklin,  then  aged  eighty-one,  rose  and  said  :  "  I 
have  often,  in  the  course  of  the  session,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  my  hopes  and  fears  as  to  its 
issue,  looked  at  the  sun  [painted  on  the  wall  back  of  the  president's  chair],  without  being  able 
to  tell  whether  it  was  rising  or  setting  ;  but  now,  at  length,  I  have  the  happiness  to  know  that 
it  is  a  rising,  and  not  a  setting  sun." 

The  Constitution  was  then  submitted  to  the  thirteen  states.  In  1788  eleven  had  ratified  it 
(Rhode  Island  and  North  Carolina  declining  then,  though  they  gave  their  assent  before  the  close 
of  1790),  and  on  March  4,  1789,  the  new  Constitution  went  into  operation,  although,  owing 
to  delays,  Washington  was  not  inaugurated  as  the  first  President  until  April  30  of  that  year. 

2  Congress  assembles  on  the  first  Monday  in  December;   the  first,  or  "long  session," 
usually  closes  some  time  in  the  following  summer;  the  second,  or  "short  session,"  closes, 
by  law,  at  noon  of  March  4.    Each  Congress  exists  two  years. 


CONSTITUTION    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES        vii 

SECTION  2.  The  House  of  Representative  shall  be  composed  of  members  chosen 
every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several  States,  and  the  electors  in  each  State 
shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of 
the  State  Legislature. 

No  person  shall  be  a  representative  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who 
shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be 
chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several  States 
which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according  to  their  respective  numbers,1 
which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  includ 
ing  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed, 
three-fifths  of  all  other  persons.2  The  actual  enumeration  shall  be  made  within 
three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within 
every  subsequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct. 
The  number  of  representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but 
each  State  shall  have  at  least  one  representative :  and  until  such  enumeration  shall 
be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose  three;  Massa 
chusetts,  eight ;  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  one ;  Connecticut,  five ; 
New  York,  six  ;  New  Jersey,  four  ;  Pennsylvania,  eight ;  Delaware,  one  ;  Maryland, 
six ;  Virginia,  ten  ;  North  Carolina,  five ;  South  Carolina,  five ;  and  Georgia,  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from  any  State,  the  executive 
authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies.. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  Speaker3  and  other  officers; 
and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment. 

SECTION  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  senators 
from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  for  six  years;  and  each  senator 
shall  have  one  vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence  of  the  first  election, 
they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into  three  classes.  The  seats  of  the 
senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year ;  of 
the  second  class,  at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year;  of  the  third  class,  at  the 
expiration  of  the  sixth  year,  so  that  one-third  may  be  chosen  every  second  year ;  and 
if  vacancies  happen  by  resignation,  or  otherwise,  during  the  recess  of  the  Legis 
lature  of  any  State,  the  executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  appointments  until 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which  shall  then  fill  such  vacancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty 
years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when 
elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice- President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  president  of  the  Senate,  but 
shall  have  no  vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

1  At  present  (under  the  census  of  1900)  one  representative  is  sent  to  Congress  for  every 
193,197  persons.  (See  page  xxxiii.) 

'•  "  Persons"  meaning  slaves.  This  has  been  amended  (by  Amendments  XIII.  and  XIV.), 
and  is  no  longer  in  force. 

8  The  Speaker  presides.    Other  officers  are  the  clerk,  sergeant-at-arms,  door-keeper,  etc. 


viil  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,1  and  also  a  president  pro  tempore, 
in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when  he  shall  exercise  the  office  of  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeachments :  When  sitting 
for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation.  When  the  President  of  the 
United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief-Justice  shall  preside:  and  no  person  shall  be  con 
victed  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment  shall  not  extend  further  than  to  removal 
from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust,  or 
profit  under  the  United  States ;  but  the  party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable 
and  subject  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment,  and  punishment,  according  to  law. 

SECTION  4.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for  senators 
and  representatives  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof ;  but 
the  Congress  may  at  any  time,  by-law,  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to 
the  places  of  choosing  senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year,  and  such  meeting  shall  be 
on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

SECTION  5.  Each  house  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifi 
cations  of  its  own  members,  and  a  majority  of  each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to 
do  business ;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be 
authorized  to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members,  in  such  manner,  and  under 
such  penalties,  as  each  house  may  provide. 

Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish  its  members  for 
disorderly  behavior,  and,  with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 

Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  from  time  to  time  pub 
lish  the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as  may  in  their  judgment  require  secrecy,  and 
the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  of  either  house  on  any  question  shall,  at  the 
desire  of  one-fifth  of  those  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Neither  house,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the 
other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which 
the  two  houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SECTION  6.  The  senators  and  representatives  shall  receive  a  compensation2  for 
their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States.  They  shall  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace,  be 
privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of  their  respective 
houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same ;  and  for  any  speech  or  debate 
in  either  house,  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

No  senator  or  representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which  he  was  elected,  be 
appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall 
have  been  created,  or  the  emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased,  during 
such  time ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  a 
member  of  either  house  during  his  continuance  in  office. 


1  The  chief  of  these  are  the  secretary,  sergeant-at-arms,  door-keeper,  etc. 
1  $5000  a  year,  with  twenty  cents  for  every  mile  necessarily  travelled  in  coming  to  and 
returning  from  the  Capital. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES          ix 

SECTION  7.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with  amendments  as  on  other  bills. 

Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate, 
shall,  before  it  become  a  law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ; 
if  he  approve,  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not,  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections,  to 
that  house  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large 
on  their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such  reconsideration,  two- 
thirds  of  that  house  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the 
objections,  to  the  other  house,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and  if 
approved  by  two-thirds  of  that  house,  it  shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases 
the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the  names  of  the 
persons  voting  for  and  against  the  bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each  house 
respectively.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  days 
(Sunday  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a 
law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their  adjourn 
ment  prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote  to  which  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on  a  question  of  adjournment) 
shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  and  before  the  same  shall 
take  effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  repassed 
by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  according  to  the  rules 
and  limitations  prescribed  in  the  case  of  a  bill. 

SECTION  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties, 
imposts,  and  excises,  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and 
general  welfare  of  the  United  States ;  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be 
uniform  throughout  the  United  States  ; 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States  ; 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  States,  and 
with  the  Indian  tribes; 

To  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws  on  the  subject 
of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States ; 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin,  and  fix  the 
standard  of  weights  and  measures; 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities  and  current  coin 
of  the  United  States  ; 

To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  securing,  for  limited 
times,  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their  respective  writings  and 
discoveries ; 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas,  and 
offences  against  the  law  of  nations ; 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make  rules  concerning 
captures  on  land  and  water ; 

To  raise  and  support  armies,  but  no  appropriation  of  money  to  that  use  shall  be 
for  a  longer  term  than  two  years ; 


X  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 

To  provide  and  maintain,  a  navy ; 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land  and  naval  forces ; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress 
insurrections  and  repel  invasions  ; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia,  and  for  governing 
such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  reserving 
to  the  States  respectively  the  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of 
training  the  militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress; 

To  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever  over  such  district  (not 
exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession  of  particular  States,  and  the  accept 
ance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
exercise  like  authority  over  all  places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals, 
dockyards,  and  other  needful  buildings  ;  —  And 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execu 
tion  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  department  or  officer  thereof.! 

SECTION  9.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States 
now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress 
prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be 
imposed  on  such  importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 2 

The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when 
in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  may  require  it. 

No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex-post-facto  law.  shall  be  passed. 

No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  proportion  to  the  census 
or  enumeration  herein  before  directed  to  be  taken. 

No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  State. 

No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or  revenue  to  the 
ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another ;  nor  shall  vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one 
State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay  duties  in  another. 

No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but  in  consequence  of  appropriations 
made  by  law ;  and  a  regular  statement  and  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures 
of  all  public  money  shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States  :  And  no  person  hold 
ing  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  them,  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress, 
accept  of  any  present,  emolument,  office,  or  title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any 
king,  prince,  or  foreign  state. 

SECTION  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  confederation; 
grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  coin  money ;  emit  bills  of  credit ;  make  any 
thing  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts  ;  pass  any  bill  of  attain 
der,  ex-post-facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  or  grant  any  title 
of  nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  impost  or  duties  on 
imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its 

1  This  is  the  so-called  "  elastic  clause  "  of  the  Constitution. 

2  "  Person  "  meaning  slave  ;  referring  to  the  foreign  slave-trade,  abolished  in  1808. 


CONSTITUTION    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES         xi 

inspection  laws ;  and  the  net  produce  of  all  duties  and  impost,  laid  by  any  State  on 
imports  or  exports,  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  ;  and  all 
such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  duty  of  tonnage,  keep 
troops,  or  ships-of-war,  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or  compact  with 
another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage  in  war,  unless  actually  invaded, 
or  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE  II. 

SECTION  i.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  office  during  the  term  of  four  years,  and, 
together  with  the  Vice-President,  chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected,  as  follows : 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof  may  direct, 
a  number  of  electors,  equal  to  the  whole  number  of  senators  and  representatives  to 
which  the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress :  but  no  senator  or  representative, 
or  person  holding  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be 
appointed  an  elector. 

[The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  two 
persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with 
themselves.  And  they  shall  make  a  list  of  all  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  num 
ber  of  votes  for  each ;  which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify  and  transmit  sealed  to 
the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  president  of  the 
Senate.  The  president  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted.  The 
person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number 
be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed ;  and  if  there  be  more 
than  one  who  have  such  majority,  and  have  an  equal  number  of  votes,  then  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately  choose  by  ballot  one  of  them  for  Presi 
dent  ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list  the 
said  house  shall,  in  like  manner,  choose  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  Presi 
dent,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from  each  State  having 
one  vote;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from 
two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 
In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  the  President,  the  person  having  the  greatest  num 
ber  of  votes  of  the  electors  shall  be  the  Vice-President.  But  if  there  should  remain 
two  or  more  who  have  equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall  choose  from  them  by  ballot  the 
Vice-President.i] 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  the  electors,  and  the  day  on 
which  they  shall  give  their  votes;  which  day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the 
United  States.2 

1  This  paragraph  in  brackets  has  been  set  aside  by  the  XII.  Amendment. 

2  The  electors  are  chosen  on  the  Tuesday  following  the  first  Monday  in  November,  next 
before  the  expiration  of  a  presidential  term.     They  vote  (by  Act  of  Congress  of  Feb.  3,  1887) 
on  the  second  Monday  in  January  following,  for  President  and  Vice-President..    The  votes 
are  counted,  and  declared  in  Congress  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  the  next  February. 


xii  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 

No  person  except  a  natural  born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President ; 
neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  resident  within  the  United 
States. 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his  death,  resignation, 
or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall 
devolve  on  the  Vice-President,  and  the  Congress  may  by  law  provide  for  the  case 
of  removal,  death,  resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President ;  and  such  officer  shall  act 
accordingly  until  the  disability  be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services  a  compensation  1 
which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  the  period  for  which  he 
shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall  not  receive  within  that  period  any  other 
emolument  from  the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall  take  the  following  oath  or 
affirmation :  —  "I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve, 
protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

SECTION  2.  The  President  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual 
service  of  the  United  States ;  he  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
officer  in  each  of  the  executive  departments,  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties 
of  their  respective  offices ;  and  he  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons 
for  offences  against  the  United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make 
treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  senators  present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate, 
and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  shall  appoint  ambassadors, 
other  public  ministers  and  consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other 
officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  are  not  herein  otherwise  provided 
for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by  law :  but  the  Congress  may  by  law  vest  the 
appointment  of  such  inferior  officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President  alone, 
in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that  may  happen  during 
the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of 
their  next  session. 

SECTION  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  information  2  of  the 
state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he 
shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient ;  he  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene 
both  houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between  them  with 
respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he  shall 


1  The  President  now  receives  $50,000  a  year ;  the  Vice-President,  $8000.     Previous  to 
1873  the  President  received  but  $25,000  a  year. 

2  The  Presidents,  beginning  with  Jefferson,  have  done  this  by  messages  sent  to  Congress. 
Washington  and  Adams  read  speeches  or  messages  to  that  body. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES       xiii 

think  proper;  he  shall  receive  ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers;  he  shall 
take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  commission  all  the  officers 
of  the  United  States. 

SECTION  4.  The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all  civil  officers  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for,  and  conviction  of,  treason, 
bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE    III. 

SECTION  i.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in  one 
Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time 
ordain  and  establish.  The  judges,  both  of  the  Supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall 
hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  their 
services  a  compensation  which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in 
office. 

SECTION  2.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in  law  and  equity, 
arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  their  authority,  —  to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors, 
other  public  ministers,  and  consuls ;  —  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  juris 
diction  ;  —  to  controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party,  —  to  con 
troversies  between  two  or  more  States ;  —  between  a  State  and  citizens  of  another 
State ;  *  —  between  citizens  of  different  States ;  —  between  citizens  of  the  same  State 
claiming  lands  under  grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  citizens 
thereof,  and  foreign  states,  citizens  or  subjects. 

In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and  consuls,  and  those 
in  which  a  State  shall  be  party,  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction. 
In  all  other  cases  before  mentioned,  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  juris 
diction,  both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  exceptions  and  under  such  regulations 
as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury ;  and 
such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed ; 
but  when  not  committed  within  any  State,  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places 
as  the  Congress  may  by  law  have  directed. 

SECTION  3.  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  consist  only  in  levying  war 
against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort. 

No  person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses 
to  the  same  overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open  court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  punishment  of  treason,  but  no 
attainder  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of  blood,  or  forfeiture,  except  during  the 
life  of  the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

SECTION  i.  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to  the  public  acts, 
records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  every  other  State,  And  the  Congress  may  by 

1  But  compare  Amendment  XI. 


xiv  THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 

general  laws,  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  such  acts,  records,  and  proceedings 
shall  be  proved,  and  the  effect  thereof. 

SECTION  2.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and 
immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony,  or  other  crime,  who  shall 
flee  from  justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State,  shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive 
authority  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the 
State  having  jurisdiction  of  the  crime. 

No  person  *  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping 
into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom 
such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 

SECTION  3.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this  Union ;  but 
no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State  ; 
nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  concerned  as  well  as  of  the 
Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and 
regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States ;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any 
claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

SECTION  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a 
republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion, 
and  on  application  of  the  Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature 
cannot  be  convened)  against  domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of  both  houses  shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall 
propose  amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the  application  of  the  Legisla 
tures  of  two-thirds  of  the  several  States,  shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing 
amendments,  which,  in  either  case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as 
part  of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the 
several  States,  or  by  conventions  in  three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other 
mode  of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress;  provided  that  no  amend 
ment  which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight 
shall  in  any  manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the 
first  article ;  and  that  no  State,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal 
suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

All  debts  contracted,  and  engagements  entered  into,  before  the  adoption  of  this 
Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United  States  under  this  Constitution,  as 
under  the  confederation. 

1  "  Person  "  here  means  slave.  This  was  the  original  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  It  now  has  no 
force,  since,  by  Amendment  XIII.  to  the  Constitution,  slavery  is  prohibited. 


CONSTITUTION    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES        XV 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall  be  made  in 
pursuance  thereof;  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land;  and  the 
judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws 
of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  senators  and  representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the  members  of  the 
several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support 
this  Constitution ;  but  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to 
any  office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States. 


ARTICLE  VII. 

The  ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States  so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  in  conventions,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  States  present,  the 
seventeenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  the  twelfth. 

In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

President,  and  Deputy  from  Virginia. 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 
JOHN  LANGDON, 
NICHOLAS  GILMAN. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 
NATHANIEL  GORHAM, 
RUFUS  KING. 

CONNECTICUT. 

WILLIAM  SAMUEL  JOHNSON, 
ROGER  SHERMAN. 

NEW  YORK. 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

NEW   JERSEY. 
WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON, 
DAVID  BREARLEY, 
WILLIAM  PATERSON, 
JONATHAN  DAYTON. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 
BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 
THOMAS  MIFFLIN, 
ROBERT  MORRIS, 
GEORGE  CLYMER, 
THOMAS  FITZSIMONS, 
JARED  INGERSOLL, 
JAMES  WILSON, 
GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS. 

DELAWARE. 
GEORGE  READ, 
GUNNING  BEDFORD,  JR., 
JOHN  DICKINSON, 
RICHARD  BASSETT, 
JACOB  BROOM. 

MARYLAND. 
JAMES  M'HENRY, 
DANIEL   OF    ST.    THOMAS 

JENIFER, 
DANIEL  CARROLL. 


VIRGINIA. 
JOHN  BLAIR, 
JAMES  MADISON,  JR. 

NORTH   CAROLINA. 

WILLIAM  BLOUNT, 
RICHARD  DOBBS  SPAIGHT, 
HUGH  WILLIAMSON. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

JOHN  RUTLEDGE, 
CHARLES  C.  PINCKNEY, 
CHARLES  PINCKNEY, 
PIERCE  BUTLER. 

GEORGIA. 

WILLIAM  FEW, 
ABRAHAM  BALDWIN. 


Attest: 


WILLIAM    JACKSON,  Secretary. 


xvi  THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


AMENDMENTS 
To    THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES,   RATIFIED    ACCORDING 

TO    THE     PROVISIONS    OF    THE     FlFTH     ARTICLE    OF 

THE   FOREGOING  CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE  I.l  —  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof ;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech, 
or  of  the  press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition 
the  government  for  redress  of  grievances. 

ARTICLE  II.  —  A  well-regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free 
State  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed. 

ARTICLE  III.  —  No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house, 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner ;  nor  in  time  of  war  but  in  a  manner  to  be  pre 
scribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  IV.  —  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated, 
and  no  warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affir 
mation,  and  particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or 
things  to  be  seized. 

ARTICLE  V.  —  No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise 
infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in 
cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual  service  in 
time  of  war  and  public  danger ;  nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence 
to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal 
case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  to  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use, 
without  just  compensation. 

ARTICLE  VI.  —  In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  district  wherein  the 
crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have  been  previously  ascer 
tained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be 
confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him ;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining 
witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defence. 

ARTICLE  VII.  — In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall 
exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved,  and  no  fact  tried 
by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any  court  of  the  United  States  than 
according  to  the  rules  of  common  law. 

ARTICLE  VIII.  —  Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

1  The  first  ten  amendments  were  offered  in  1789,  and  adopted  before  the  close  of  1791. 
They  were  largely  the  work  of  James  Madison.  They  were  adopted,  says  Judge  Story,  in  order 
to  "more  efficiently  guard  certain  rights  already  provided  for  in  the  Constitution,  or  to  pro 
hibit  certain  exercises  of  authority  supposed  to  be  dangerous  to  the  public  interests." 


CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES      xvii 

ARTICLE  IX.  —  The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution  of  certain  rights  shall  not 
be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE  X.  —  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu-  * 
tion,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  ' 
the  people. 

ARTICLE  XI.1 — The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  con 
strued  to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  against  any 
of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of  another  State,  or  by  citizens  or  subjects  of  any 
foreign  state. 

ARTICLE  XII.2  — The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote 
by  ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an 
inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves ;  they  shall  name  in  their  ballots  the 
person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the  parson  voted  for  as  Vice- 
President  ;  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President, 
and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each, 
which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  president  of  the  Senate ;  —  the  president 
of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted; — the  person  having 
the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number 
be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed ;  and  if  no  person  have 
such  majority,  then  from  the  persons  having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding 
three  on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  President,  the 
votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote  ; 
a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds 
of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if 
the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President  whenever  the  right  of 
choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then 
the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  con 
stitutional  disability  of  the  President.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of 
votes  as  Vice-President,  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then 
from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice-Presi 
dent  ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of 
senators,  and  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But 
no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be  eligible  to  that 
of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  XIII.3  —  Section  i.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except 
as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall 
exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate 
legislation. 

1  Proposed  in  1794;  adopted  1798.  A  number  of  states  have,  at  different  times,  taken 
advantage  of  this  amendment  to  repudiate  their  debts.  *  Adopted  1804. 

3  This  confirmed  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  ;  it  was  adopted  in  1865. 


xviii         THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY 

ARTICLE  XIV.1  — Section  i.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and 
of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which 
shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  nor  shall 
any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of 
law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

Section  2.  Representatives  shall  be  appointed  among  the  several  States  accord 
ing  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each 
State,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for 
the  choice  of  electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  repre 
sentatives  in  Congress,  the  executive  or  judicial  officers  of  a  State,  or  the  members 
of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State, 
being  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way 
abridged,  except  for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  represen 
tation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the  number  of  such  male 
citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in 
such  State. 

Section  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  senator  or  representative  in  Congress,  or  elector 
of  President  or  Vice-President,  or  hold  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United 
States,  or  under  any  State,  who  having  previously  taken  an  oath  as  a. member  of 
Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any  State  Legis 
lature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to  support  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the 
same,  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  each  house,  remove  such  disability. 

Section  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States,  authorized  by 
law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pensions  and  bounties  for  services  in 
suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the 
United  States  nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in 
aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss 
or  emancipation  of  any  slave ;  but  all  such  debts,  obligations,  and  claims  shall  be 
held  illegal  and  void. 

Section  5.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appropriate  legislation,  the 
provisions  of  this  article. 

ARTICLE  XV.2  —  Section  i.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States,  or  by  any  State,  on  account 
of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate 
legislation. 

1  Adopted  1868.    The  object  of  sections  i  and  2  was  to  make  the  freedmen  (negroes), 
emancipated  during  the  Civil  War,  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

2  Adopted  1870.     Its  object  was  to  give  the  freedmen  (negroes)  the  right  to  -vote. 


APPENDIX 


xix 


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A    SHORT    LIST    OF 

BOOKS   ON   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Bibliography 

Channing  and  Hart's  Guide  to  the  Study  of 
American  History  (1492-1865). 

Adams'  Manual  of  Historical  Literature. 

References  in  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Criti 
cal  History  of  America,  8  vols. 

Foster's  References  to  United  States  His 
tory. 

Larned's  Literature  of  American  History. 

Historical  Geography,   Territorial 

Expansion,  Physiography,  and 

Maps 

Hart's  Epoch  Maps  of  the  United  States 

(no  text). 
Scribner's  Statistical  Atlas  of  the   United 

States  (1880). 
MacCoun's    Historical    Geography  of   the 

United  States  (revised  edition). 
Gannett's    Boundaries    of    the    States   (no 

maps). 

Shaler's  United  States,  2  vols. 
Whitney's  United  States. 
Semple's  American    History  and  its  Geo 
graphic  Conditions. 
Hitchcock's  Louisiana  Purchase. 
Austin's   Steps  in  the    Expansion  of  our 

Territory. 
Hulbert's  Historic  Highways  (Roads  and 

Waterways),  13  vols. 

Works  of  Reference 

Macdonald's  Select  Charters  of  American 
History  (1606-1775). 

Macdonald's  Select  Documents  of  United 
States  History  (1776-1861). 

Macdonald's  Select  Statutes  of  United 
States  History  (1861-1898). 

Lalor's  Cyclopaedia  of  United  States  His 
tory,  3  vols. 

Larned's  History  for  Ready  Reference,  6 
vols. 

Harper's  Encyclopaedia  of  United  States 
History,  10  vols. 

Jameson's  Dictionary  of  United  States 
History. 

Richardson's  Messages,  etc.,  of  the  Presi 
dents  (1789-1901),  10  vols. 

Rand's  Economic  History  since  1763. 

xxiv 


Harper's  Book  of  Facts. 

Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia  (1876- 
1902). 

Poole's  Index  to  Reviews. 

Index  to  Congressional  Documents. 

The  American  Historical  Review. 

The  Magazine  of  American  History. 

The  Magazine  of  Western  History. 

Harper's  First  Century  of  the  Republic. 

The  North  American  Review  for  1876  (First 
Century  of  the  Republic). 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies. 

The  Political  Science  Quarterly. 

The  Harvard  Historical  Studies. 

The  Columbia  University  Studies. 

The  Yale  Review. 

American  State  Papers,  50  vols. 

The  Papers  of  the  American  Historical 
Association. 

The  Papers  of  the  American  Antiquarian 
Society. 

The  American  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science. 

Debates  in  Parliament. 

Parliamentary  History. 

Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biog 
raphy,  6  vols. 

The  National  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Bi 
ography,  12  vols. 

The  Collections  of  State  Historical  Socie 
ties. 

Colonial  Records. 

Sparks'  American  Biography,  25  vols. 

Morse's  American  Statesman,  25  vols.  (in 
progress). 

Scudder's  American  Commonwealths,  13 
vols.  (in  progress). 

Elson's  Side  Lights  on  American  History, 
2  vols. 

McMaster's  With  the  Fathers. 

Bishop's  American  Manufactures,  2  vols. 

Boone's  Education  in  the  United  States. 

Dexter's  History  of  Education  in  the  United 
States. 

Richardson's  American  Literature,  2  vols. 

Wright's  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United 
States. 

Morison's  New  Epoch  —  the  Manufacture 
of  Power. 

Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  2  vols. 
(revised  edition). 


LIST    OF  BOOKS    ON  AMERICAN   HISTORY       xxv 


The  Tribune  Almanac. 

The  World  Almanac. 

N lies'  Register  (1811-1849),  76  vols. 

The  Statesman's  Year-Book. 

Constitutional  and  Political  History 
and  Diplomacy 

Kasson's  Evolution  of  the  Constitution  of 

the  United  States. 
Thorpe's  Short  Constitutional    History  of 

the  United  States. 
Thorpe's    Constitutional    History    of    the 

American  People,  2  vols. 
Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History  of  the 

United  States  (to  1861),  9  vols. 
Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  2  vols. 

(revised  edition). 

Elliot's  Debates  in  the  Constitutional  Con 
vention,  3  vols. 
Foster's  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution, 

2  vols. 

Landon's  Constitutional  History. 
Poore's  State  Charters  and  Constitutions, 

2  vols. 
Benton's    Abridgment    of     Congressional 

Debates  (1789-1850),  16  vols. 
Wheeler's  History  of  Congress,  2  vols. 
The  Congressional  Globe. 
The  Congressional  Record. 
Moore's  History  of  Congress. 
Hazard's  State  Papers  (1492-1767),  2  vols. 
Pickering's   (English)    Statutes   at    Large, 

109  vols. 
Force's  American  Archives  (1774-1783),  9 

vols. 

The  Federalist. 
Williams'  Statesman's  Manual  (1789-1847), 

2  vols. 

Carson's    History    of    the    United    States 

Supreme  Court. 
BoutwelPs  The  Constitution  at  the  End  of 

the    Century.      (U.    S.    Supreme    Court 

decisions.) 
United   States    Statutes   (and  Treaties)  at 

Large,  28  vols.  (in  progress). 
Taussig's  Tariff  History. 
Mason's  History  of  the  Veto  Power. 
Mead's   Old   South   Leaflets,   75   nos.   (in 

progress). 
Hart    and   Channing's  American    History 

Leaflets,  24  nos.  (in  progress). 
Cooper's  American  Politics. 
Wilson's  The  State. 
Scott's  Constitutional  Liberty. 
Wilson's  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power, 

3  vols. 

Smith's  Political  History  of  Slavery,  2  vols. 


Curtis'  History  of  the  Republican  Party, 
2  vols. 

Smith's  Liberty  and  Free  Soil  Parties  in  the 
Northwest. 

Macdonald's  Charters  of  American  History 
(1605-1775). 

Macdonald's  Select  Documents  of  United 
States  History  (1776-1861). 

Macdonald's  Select  Statutes  of  United 
States  History  (1861-1898). 

Macy's  Political  Parties  (1846-1861). 

McMaster's  Acquisition  of  Rights. 

Stanwood's  The  Presidency. 

McKee's  National  Conventions  and  Plat 
forms. 

Johnston's  American  Politics. 

Woodburn's  Political  Parties. 

Merriam's  American  Political  Theories. 

Ford's  Political  History  of  the  United 
States. 

Gordy's  Political  History  of  the  United 
States  (1787-1828),  2  vols. 

McPherson's  Political  History  of  the  Re 
bellion. 

McPherson's  Political  History  of  Recon 
struction. 

McPherson's  Handbook  of  Politics  (from 
1870),  13  double  vols. 

The  Collected  Works  of  Franklin,  Wash 
ington,  Jefferson,  Hamilton,  Jay,  Rufus 
King,  John  Adams,  Madison,  Morris, 
Clay,  Calhoun,  Webster,  Lincoln,  Sew- 
ard,  and  Sumner. 

Memoirs  of  J.Q.Adams  (1795-1848),  12  vols. 

Ingersoll's  Recollections (1792-1803),  2  vols. 

Benton's  Thirty  Years  in  the  Senate  (1820- 
1850),  2  vols. 

Wise's  Seven  Decades  (1790-1862). 

Elaine's  Twenty  Years  in  Congress  (1861- 
1881),  2  vols. 

Sargent's  Public  Men  and  Events  (1817- 
1895),  2  vols. 

Julian's  Political  Recollections  (1840-1872). 

McCulloch's  Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a 
Century  (1833-1883). 

Cox's  Three  Decades  (1855-1885). 

Chittenden's  Personal  Reminiscences  (1840- 
1890). 

Sherman's  Recollections  (1855-1895),  2  vols. 

Thompson's  Recollections  of  Sixteen  Presi 
dents  (1789-1865),  2  vols. 

McClure's  Recollections. 

Hoar's  Autobiography,  2  vols. 

Snow's  American  Diplomacy  (1783-1893). 

Schuyler's  American  Diplomacy. 

Foster's  Century  of  American  Diplomacy 
(1776-1876). 

Hart's  Foreign  Policy  of  the  United  States, 


xxvi         THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Financial  History 

Dewey's   Financial  History  of  the  United 

States. 

White's  Money  and  Banking. 
Sumner's  American   Currency. 
Bolles'    Financial    History  of  the  United 

States,  2  vois. 

Histories  of  the  United  States  in 
General 

Hart's   History  of  the  American  Nation, 

(1492-        ).  28  vols.  (in  progress). 
Lee's  History  of  North  America  (1492-        ), 

20  vols.  (in  progress). 
Chancellor  and  Hewes'  United  States  (1607- 

1904),  10  vols.  (in  progress). 
Sparks'  United  States  (1492-1904),  2  vols. 
Elson's  United  States  (1492-1904). 
Avery's  United  States  (1492-1904),  12  vols. 

(in  progress). 

Andrews'  United  States  (1492-1902),  5  vols. 
Wilson's  History  of  the  American  People 

(1492-1900),  5  vols. 
Scribner's  United   States  (Bryant  &  Gay 

revised)  (1492-1896),  5  vols. 
Hart's  Epochs  of  American  History  (1492- 

1889),  3  vols. 
Scribner's  American  History  Series  (1492- 

1889),  7  vols. 
Higginson's  Larger  History  of  the  United 

States  (1492-1837). 

Goldwin  Smith's  United  States  (1492-1871). 
Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of 

America  (1000-18=50),  8  vols. 
Schouler's  United  States  (1783-1865),  6vols. 
Bancroft's  United  States  (1492-1789),  6  vols. 
H.  H.  Bancroft's  Pacific  States,  34  vols. 
Hildreth's  United  States  (1492-1821),  6  vols. 
Johnston's  United  States  (reprinted  with 

additions  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britan 

nia  (1492-1889). 

Ticker's  United  States  (1607-1841),  3  vols. 
McMaster's  United   States  (1784-1861),  5 

vols.  (in  progress). 

Adams'  United  States  (1801-1817),  9  vols. 
Moireau's  Des  Etats-Unis  (1492-1800),   2 

vols. 

Rhodes'  United  States  (1850-1876),  6  vols. 
Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contem 

poraries  (1492-1900),  4  vols. 

I.   PERIOD  OF  DISCOVERY   (1492- 


§  Major's  Select  Letters  of  Columbus. 
§Hakluyt's  Divers  Voyages. 


Winsor's  Columbus 

Markham  s  Columbus. 

Harrisse's  Discovery  of  America. 

Fiske's  Discovery  of   North    America,  2 

vols. 
Winsor's  America,  vols.  I-III. 

II.  PERIOD  OF  EXPLORATION  AND 
SPANISH  COLONIZATION  OF 

AMERICA  (1509-1587) 

Irving's  Companions  of  Columbus,  2  vols. 

H.  H.  Bancroft's  Pacific  States,  34  vols. 
§De  Soto's  Conquest  of  Florida  (Hakluyt). 

Parkman's  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New 
World. 

Cooke's  Virginia. 
§Hakluyt's  Voyages  (Goldsmid),  vol.  XKL 

pp.  169-276  (reasons  for  colonization). 
§Hart's  Contemporaneous  History,  vol.  L 

Winsor's  America,  vols.  II-III. 

Edward's  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 
On  tlie  Indians '. 

Ellis'  The  Red  Man  and  the  White. 

Schoolcraft's  Indian  Tribes,  6  vols. 

Morgan's  League  of  the  Iroquois. 

Colden's  Five  Nations, 

Parkman's   Conspiracy  of  Pontiac  (chap. 
I). 

III.  PERIOD  OF  PERMANENT  ENG- 
LISH  AND  FRENCH  SETTLE 
MENTS  (1607-1763) 

Scribner's  United  States,  5  vols. 
Winsor's  America,  8  vols. 
Doyle's  The  English  in  America,  3  vols. 
Osgood's   American  Colonies  in  the   i7th 

Century,  2  vols. 
Parkman's  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New 

World. 

Eggleston's  The  Beginners  of  a  Nation. 
Eggleston's  The  Transit  of  Civilization. 
Eggleston's  Articles  in  the  Century,  vols. 

III-VIII. 

Earle's  Home  Life  in  Colonial  Days. 
Thwaite's  Colonies. 
Fisher's  Colonial  Period. 
Lodge's  English  Colonies. 
Parkman's  Frontenac. 
Parkman's  Old  Regime  in  Canada. 
Parkman's  Jesuits  in  North  America. 
Parkman's  Half  Century  of  Conflict,  2  vols. 
Parkman's  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  2  vols. 
Winsor's  Mississippi  Basin. 


$  Contemporaneous  or  Early  History. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS   ON  AMERICAN   HISTORY     xxvii 


§Force's  North  American  Colonies,  4  vols. 
Seeiey's  Expansion  of  England. 
Lecky's   England   in  the  i8th  Century,  8 

vols. 

Chalmer's  Annals  of  the  Colonies. 
Chalmer's  Revolt  of  the  Colonies,  2  vols. 
Goldwin  Smith's  American  Colonies. 
§Captain    John    Smith's    Works    (Arber's 

edition). 
§Brown's    Genesis    of    the    United    States 

(1607-1616).  2  vols. 
§Beverly's  Virginia  (1584-1720). 
§Stith's  Virginia  (1607-1747). 
§Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia. 
§Neill's  Virginia  Company. 
§NeilFs  Virginia  Vetusta. 
§NeilPs  Virginia  Carolorum. 
§Hening's  Statutes  (1619-1792),  13  vols. 
Bruce's   Economic  History  of  Virginia,  2 

vols. 

Cooke's  Virginia. 
The  Virginia  Magazine  of  History,  etc.  (in 

progress). 

§Brodhead's  New  York  (1664-1691),  2  vols. 
Roberts'  New  York,  2  vols. 
Wilson's  City  of  New  York,  4  vols. 
Lamb's  City  of  New  York,  2  vols. 
Palfrey's  New  England,  5  vols. 
§Winthrop's  New  England,  2  vols. 
Fiske's  Beginnings  of  New  England. 
Weeden's  Economic  History  of  New  Eng 
land,  2  vols. 

§Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth. 
§Arber's  Story  of  the  Pilgrims. 
§Young's  Chronicle  of  the  Pilgrims. 
Goodwin's  Pilgrim  Republic. 
Barry's  Massachusetts,  3  vols. 
§Lowell  Lectures  (1869)   on   Early  Massa 
chusetts. 
§Young's  Chronicles  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

Ellis'  Puritan  Age  in  Massachusetts. 
§Hutchinson's  Massachusetts,  3  vols. 
Oliver's  Puritan  Commonwealth. 
Thornton's  Reply  to  Oliver. 
Adams'  Emancipation  of  Massachusetts. 
Adams'  Three  Episodes  in  the  History  of 

Massachusetts,  2  vols. 
§Mather's  Magnalia. 
§Sewall's  Diary  (1674-1729),  3  vols. 
Winsor's   Memorial   History  of  Boston,  4 

vols. 

Arnold's  Rhode  Island,  2  vols. 
Greene's  Rhode  Island. 
TrumbulPs  Connecticut,  2  vols. 
Johnston's  Connecticut. 
Sanborn's  New  Hampshire. 


Belknap's  New  Hampshire,  2  volr, 

Browne's  Maryland. 

Scharf's  Maryland,  3  vds. 
§Proud's  Pennsylvania  (1681-^742),  2  vols. 

Fisher's  Making  of  Pennsy'vania. 

Fisher's  Colony  and  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Scharf  and  Westcott's  Philadelphia. 

The  Pennsylvania  Magazine  (in  progress), 

Scharf's  Delaware,  2  vols. 

Roper's  North  Carolina. 

Williamson's  North  Carolina. 

Moore's  North  Carolina,  2  vols. 

McCrady's  South  Carolina,  2  vols. 

Simm's  South  Carolina. 

Raum's  New  Jersey,  2  vols. 

Jones'  Georgia,  2  vols. 

Baird's  Huguenot  Emigration  to  America. 

Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West,  3  vols. 

Hinsdale's  Old  Northwest. 

Tyler's  Colonial  Literature. 

Biography.  See  Sparks'  American  Biogra 
phy  for  lives  of  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Daniel 
Boone,  Lord  Baltimore  (Calvert),  Jona 
than  Edwards,  John  Eliot,  Patrick 
Henry,  Anne  Hutchinson,  John  Ledyard, 
Cotton  Mather,  Governor  Oglethorpe, 
James  Otis,  Sir  W.  Phips,  William 
Penn,  Count  Rumford  (Benj.  Thomp 
son),  Captain  John  Smith,  Roger  Wil 
liams,  Governor  Winthrop ;  Bigelow's 
Benjamin  Franklin,  3  vols.,  Montgom 
ery's  Franklin  (Ginn  &  Company). 

IV.   THE  REVOLUTION   AND   THE 
CONSTITUTION  (1763-1789) 

Winsor's  America,  vol.  VI. 

Scribner's  United  States. 

Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic. 

Lecky's  England  (i8th  century),  8  vols. 

Bancroft's  United  States,  6  vols. 

Hildreth's  United  States,  vols.  I-III. 

Hart's  Formation  of  the  Union  (1750-1829). 

Sloane's  French  War  and  Revolution. 
§Hart's  American  History  told  by  Contem 
poraries,  vol.  II. 

Greene's  American  Revolution. 

Ludlow's  War  of  Independence, 

Winsor's  Handbook  of  the  Revolution. 

Trevelyan's  American  Revolution.    4  vols. 

Fisher's  The  True  Revolution. 

Rand's  Economic  History  since  1763  (re 
vised  edition). 

§Stedman's  American  War  (British  account). 
§Almon's  "  Prior  Documents"  (1764-1775). 


§  Contemporaneous  or  Early  History. 


xxviii       THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


§AlmorTs     Remembrancer    (1775-1784),    17 
vols. 

Hosmer's  Life  of  Governor  Hutchinson. 
§Moore's  Diary  of  the  Revolution,  2  vols. 
§Thacher's  Military  Journal. 
§Baroness  Riedesel's  Memoirs. 
§Galloway's  Rise  of  the  Rebellion  (Tory). 

Sabine's  Loyalists. 

Carrington's  Battles  of  the  Revolution. 

Abbott's  Revolutionary  Times. 

Scudder's  America  100  Years  Ago. 

Jefferson's  Anas  (in  his  Works),  vol.  IX. 

Gouverneur   Morris'  Diary   (1775-1815),   2 
vols. 

Tyler's  Literature  of  the  Revolution,  2  vols. 

Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,  2 
vols. 

Von  Hoist's  Constitutional  History,  vol.  I. 

McMaster's  United  States,  vol.  I. 

Landon's    Constitutional    History  of    the 
United  States. 

Kasson's  Evolution  of  the  Constitution  of 

the  United  States. 
§The  Federalist. 

§Elliot's   Debates    on   the    Constitution,   3 
vols. 

Wilson's  The  State. 

Foster's   Commentaries  on   the   Constitu 
tion,  2  vols. 

Curtis'     History    of     the    Constitution,    2 
vols. 

Fiske's   Critical   Period  in   United   States 
History. 

Biography.  Parker's  Historic  Americans, 
Bigelow's  Franklin,  3  vols.,  Hosmer's 
Samuel  Adams,1  Morse's  John  Adams,1 
Greene's  General  Greene,  2  vols.,  Lodge's 
Washington,  2  vols.,1  Fiske's  Irving's 
Washington  and  his  Country  (Ginn  & 
Company),  Sparks'  American  Biography, 
Lodge's  Hamilton,1  Gay's  Madison,1 
Roosevelt's  Gouverneur  Morris.1 
1  In  Morse's  American  Statesmen  Series. 

V.    THE  UNION  —  NATIONAL  DE 
VELOPMENT  (1789-1861) 

Schouler's  United  States,  5  vols. 
Scribner's  United  States,  5  vols. 
Hildreth's  United  States,  vols.  IV-VI. 
Wilson's   Division    and    Reunion    (1829- 

1889). 
Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  2  vols. 

(revised  edition). 
Walker's  The  Making  of  the  Nation. 


Winsor's  America,  vol.  VII. 

McMaster's    United    States  (1784-1861),  5 

vols.  (in  progress). 
Tucker's     United     States     (1607-1841),     4 

vols. 

Adams'  United  States  (1801-1817),  9  vols. 
H.  H.  Bancroft's  Pacific  States,  34  vols. 
Rhodes'  United  States  (1850-1866),  5  vols. 
Roosevelt's  Naval  War  of  1812. 
Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812. 
Cooper's  Naval  History. 
Maclay's  History  of  the  Navy,  2  vols. 
Wilson's  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power, 

3  vols. 

Page's  The  Old  South. 

Ingle's  Southern  Side  Lights. 

Ripley's  War  with  Mexico. 

Jay's  Mexican  War. 

Richardson's  American  Literature,  2  vols. 

Stedman  and  Hutchinson's  American  Lit 
erature,  10  vols. 

Buckingham's  Newspaper  Literature,  2 
vols. 

Thomas'  History  of  Printing,  2  vols. 

Bishop's  American  Manufactures,  2  vols. 

Johnston's  American  Politics. 

Stanwood's  Presidential  Elections. 
§Dwight's  Travels  (1796-1821),  4  vols. 

Lewis  and  Clark's  Expedition  (1804-1806), 
2  vols.  (Coues'  edition). 

Martineau's  Society  in  America  (1834-1836), 

4  vols. 

Johnston's  American  Orations,  4  vols. 

Tuckerman's  American  Art. 

Webster's  Great  Orations  (Whipple). 

Hubert's  Lives  of  Inventors. 

Nile's  Register  (1811-1849),  76  vols. 

For  histories  of  the  states,   see  Scudder's 

American  Commonwealth  Series,  13  vols. 

(in  progress). 

Breck's  Recollections  (1771-1862). 
Fred.  Douglass'  Autobiography. 
Lyman    Beecher's    Autobiography    (1775- 

1857),  2  Vols. 

Curtis'  Buchanan,  2  vols. 

Greeley's  Recollections  (1811-1860). 

Dolly  Madison's  Memoirs. 

Quincy's  Figures  of  the  Past. 

Goodrich's  Recollections  (1797-1854),  2 
vols. 

S.  J.  May's  Autobiography. 

S.  J.  May's  Anti-Slavery  Days. 

J.  F.  Clarke's  Anti-Slavery  Days. 

Biography.  See  in  Morse's  American 
Statesmen  Series  (Houghton  &  Mifflin), 
the  Lives  of  John  Adams,  J.  Q.  Adams, 


§  Contemporaneous  or  Early  History. 


LIST   OF  BOOKS   ON  AMERICAN   HISTORY      xxix 


Benton,  Calhoun,  Clay,  Jackson,  Jeffer 
son,  Madison,  Monroe,  Morris,  Ran 
dolph,  Washington,  and  Webster;  in 
Sparks'  American  Biography,  the  Lives 
of  Fulton  and  Rumford  ;  Sanborn's  John 
Brown,  Johnson's  Garrison,  Garrison's 
Life  by  his  Children,  4  vols.,  Prime's 
Morse,  Rice's  Morton,  Abbott's  Kit  Car 
son,  Upham's  Frdmont,  Parton's  Famous 
Americans,  Mrs.  Stowe's  Men  of  Our 
Times,  Hunt's  American  Merchants. 

VI.    THE   PERIOD   OF   THE  CIVIL 
WAR  (1861-1865) 

Rhodes'  United  States,  vols.  II-V. 

Scribner's  United  States. 

Wilson's  Division  and  Reunion  (1829-1889). 

Burgess'  Civil  War,  2  vols. 

Curtis'  Life  of  Buchanan,  2  vols. 

Greeley's  American  Conflict,  2  vols. 

Draper's  Civil  War,  3  vols. 

The  Comte  de  Paris'  Civil  War,  4  vols. 

Scribner's  Campaigns  of  the  War,  13  vols. 

Schouler's  Civil  War. 

Johnson's  Short  History  of  the  War. 

Dodge's  Bird's-Eye  View  of  the  Civil  War 
(revised  edition). 

Ropes'  Civil  War. 

The  Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War 
(Century  Company),  4  vols. 

Nichols'  Story  of  the  Great  March. 

Conyngham's  Sherman's  March. 

McPherson's  Political  History  of  the  Re 
bellion. 

Elaine's  Twenty  Years  in  Congress,  2  vols. 

Swinton's  Decisive  Battles  of  the  War. 

Billings'  Hard  Tack  and  Coffee. 

Pollard's  Lost  Cause  (Confederate). 

Davis'  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate 
Government  (Confederate),  2  vols. 

Cooke's  Wearing  of  the  Gray  (Confederate). 

Johnston's  Narrative  of  the  War  (Confed 
erate). 

Gordon's  Reminiscences  of  the  Civil  War 
(Confederate). 

Stephens'  War  between  the  States  (Con 
federate),  2  vols. 

Longstreet's  From  Manassas  to  Appomat- 
tox  (Confederate).  - 

Official  Records  of  the  War  of  the  Rebel 
lion  (with  atlas),  120  vols.  (in  progress). 

Harper's  Pictorial  History  of  the  Rebellion. 

Biography.  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Holland's  Lincoln,  Herndon's 
Lincoln,  3  vols.,  Carpenter's  Six  Months 
in  the  White  House,  Lodge's  Lincoln, 
2  vols.,  McClure's  Lincoln,  McClellan's 


Own  Story,  Roman's  Beauregard,  2  vols., 
Badeau's  U.  S.  Grant,  3  vols.,  Grant's 
Personal  Memoirs,  2  vols.,  Sherman's 
Memoirs,  2  vols.,  Sheridan's  Memoirs, 
2  vols.,  Farragut's  Life  of  Farragut, 
Schuckers'  Life  of  S.  P.  Chase,  Cooke's 
Robert  E.  Lee,  Cooke's  "Stonewall" 
Jackson,  Johnston  and  Browne's  Life  of 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Sherman's  Let 
ters  ;  the  Lives  of  Generals  Scott,  Han 
cock,  Thomas,  J.  E.  Johnston,  Lee,  and 
Admirals  Farragut  and  Porter,  in  the 
Great  Commander  Series. 

VII.  RECONSTRUCTION — THE  NEW 

NATION  (1865  TO  THE  PRESENT 

TIME) 

Scribner's  United  States. 

Wilson's  Division  and  Reunion. 

Brown's  The  United  States  since  the  Civil 
War,  2  vols. 

Burgess'  Reconstruction. 

McPherson's  Political  History  of  Recon 
struction. 

Barnes'  History  of  the  sgth  Congress. 

Chadsey's  Struggle  between  President 
Johnson  and  Congress  (Columbia  Uni 
versity  Studies,  1896). 

Scott's  Reconstrnction. 

Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  2  vols. 
(revised  edition). 

Life  and  Works  of  Henry  W.  Grady. 

Elaine's  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  2  vols. 

Hoar's  Autobiography. 

Johnston's  American  Politics. 

Pike's  Prostrate  State  (South  Carolina). 

McPherson's  Political  Handbooks  (1870- 
1894). 

Appletou's  Annual  Cyclopaedia  (1876-1902). 

Bancroft's  Pacific  States,  34  vols. 

Thayer's  New  West. 

McClure's  The  South. 

Washington's  Up  from  Slavery. 

Williams'  Negro  Race  in  America,  2  vols. 

Whitney's  United  States. 

Shaler's  United  States,  2  vols. 

King's  The  New  South. 

Curry's  The  South. 

Badeau's  Grant  in  Peace. 

Stoddard's  Life  of  Garfield. 

Wilson's  Presidents  (1789-1893). 

Andrews'  The  United  States  in  Our  Time. 

Whittle's  Life  of  Cleveland. 

Morris'  War  with  Spain. 

Harper's  War  with  Spain,  3  vols. 

McKinley's  Messages  to  Congress. 

Roosevelt's  Messages  to  Congress. 


xxx          THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


TABLE    OF    BOUNDARIES    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

( The  student  of  A  merican  History  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  political  boundaries  of 
the  United  States  have  been  determined  to  a  -very  large  degree  by  the  natural  boundaries 
of:  I.  coast  lines;  2.  rivers  and  lakes  ;  j.  watersheds  ;  4.  mountain  ranges.) 

I.  (1783)  By  the  final  Treaty  of  Peace  of  1783  the  boundary  of  the  American 
Republic  (see  "  Map  of  U.  S.  in  1783  ")  was  fixed,  in  general  terms,  as  fol 
lows:  The  line  separating  the  United  States  from  the  British  possessions 
began  at  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  ran  to  "  the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia," 
thence  "to  the  Highlands,"  and  thence  "along  the  said  Highlands  which 
divide  those  rivers  that  empty  themselves  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  from 
those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean."  Thence  the  line  ran  westerly 
along  the  45th  parallel,  the  middle  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  middle  of 
the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  On  the  west,  the  line  sepa 
rating  the  United  States  from  the  Spanish  province  of  Louisiana  was 
drawn  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Mississippi 
and  thence  down  the  middle  of  that  river  to  the  3ist  parallel  —  or  the 
frontier  of  the  Spanish  province  of  West  Florida.  On  the  south,  the  line 
extended  due  east  from  the  Mississippi  along  the  3ist  parallel  to  the  Chat- 
tahoochee  River  in  Georgia  and  thence  to  the  sea  as  shown  on  the  map. 
(See  "U.  S.  Statutes  at  Large,"  VIII.,  80;  Macdonald's  "Select  Docu 
ments  of  U.  S.  History";  Winsor's  "America,"  VII.;  Gannett's  "  Bound 
aries  of  the  U.  S.";  Hinsdale's  "Bounding  the  Original  U.  S."  in  "  Mag. 
of  Western  History,"  II.,  401 ;  Hart's  "  Epoch  Maps  of  American  His- 
tory.") 

Much  of  the  region  through  which  the  northern  boundary  ran  was  an 
unexplored  wilderness  and  the  line  was  largely  pure  guesswork.  This  was 
the  case  west  of  Lake  Superior,  and  notably  so  in  the  northeast,  between 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Maine  and  the  British  possessions.  The  result 
was  that  for  nearly  sixty  years  this  northeast  line  was  a  subject  of  angry 
dispute  and  the  controversy  was  not  finally  settled  until  the  negotiation  of 
the  Webster-Ashburton  Treaty  of  1842.  (See  Winsor's  "America,"  VII.; 
and  Benton's  "Thirty  Years  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,"  II.,  421.) 

II.  (1795)  Spain  refused  to  recognize  the  southern  boundary  of  the  United 
States  as  determined  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace  of  1783  (see  above,  No.  I.). 
She  claimed  that  her  province  of  West  Florida  extended  no  miles  north  of 
the  3ist  parallel  and  that  the  true  boundary  line,  separating  her  possessions 
in  that  quarter  from  the  United  States,  extended  due  east  from  the  Missis 
sippi  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  to  the  Chattahoochee  River  in  Georgia. 


TABLE   OF   BOUNDARIES  xxxi 

In  1795  Spain  relinquished  her  claim  to  the  disputed  territory,  and, 
furthermore,  granted  to  the  United  States  the  free  navigation  of  the  lower 
Mississippi,  besides  conceding  the  temporary  right  of  deposit  (or  storage 
for  merchandise)  at  the  port  of  New  Orleans.  (See  "  U.  S.  Statutes  at 
Large,"  VIII.,  and  Winsor  and  Hinsdale,  as  above.) 

III.  (1803)     In  1803  the  United  States  purchased  the  province  of  Louisiana, 

which  Spain  had  receded  to  France.  That  immense  territory  extended 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  northward  to  its  source,  and  had  the 
Rocky  Mountains  as  its  natural  boundary  on  the  west.  We  bought  the 
country  without  receiving  any  definite  limits,  and  hence  further  negotia 
tions  became  necessary  with  respect  to  boundary  lines  (see  below). 

IV.  (1818)     In  consequence  of  the  above  purchase  of  Louisiana  a  treaty  made  by 

us  with  Great  Britain  in  1818  extended  the  northern  line  of  the  United 
States  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  (see  above,  No.  I.)  westward  along  the 
49th  parallel  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  same  treaty  provided  that  the 
country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  north  of  the  42d  parallel  (or  the  recog 
nized  Spanish  frontier),  and  known  as  the  Oregon  country,  should  be  held 
jointly  by  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

V.  (1819-1825)     In  1819  Spam  sold  Florida  to  us,  and  in  the  treaty  defined  the 

unsettled  western  boundary  of  Louisiana  (see  above,  Nos.  III.  and  IV.)  by 
an  irregular  line  which  began  at  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  approximately  fol 
lowed  the  watershed  south  and  west  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  to 
the  42d  parallel.  At  the  same  time  Spain  agreed  to  renounce  all  claims 
to  the  Oregon  country.  This  was  to  us  a  most  important  concession. 
Six  years  later  (1825)  a  treaty  made  with  Russia  fixed  the  northern 
limit  of  the  Oregon  country  (before  unsettled)  at  54°  40',  or  what  is  now  the 
southern  boundary  of  Alaska. 

VI.  (1842)     In  1842  the  Webster-Ashburton  Treaty  (see  Index  under  "  Treaty") 

settled  the  long  dispute  over  the  northeastern  boundary  (see  above,  No.  I.) 
and  reaffirmed  the  line  of  1818  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  (see  above,  No. 
IV.). 
VII.   (1845)     In  1845  we  annexed  Texas;  the  boundary  question  was  settled  by  the 

Mexican  War. 

VIII.  (1846)  In  1846  a  treaty  made  by  us  with  Great  Britain  divided  the  Oregon 
country  between  the  two  nations  by  extending  the  boundary  line  of  the  49th 
parallel  (see  above,  No.  IV.)  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific. 
(See  in  general  the  "  Map  of  Acquisitions  of  Territory.") 

IX.    (1848-1867)     All  subsequent  United  States  boundary  lines  on  the  continent 
(see  map  cited  abovc,}  were  determined  by  Mexican  cessions  in  1848,  the 
Gadsden  Purchase  in  1853,  and  the  Alaska  Purchase  in  1867. 
X.   (1898-1899)     The  islands  recently  acquired  by  the  United  States  present  no 
difficulties  respecting  boundaries. 


xxxii        THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AT  EACH  CENSUS. 


YEAR. 

POPULATION. 

POPULATION 
LIVING  IN  CITIES. 

INHABITANTS  OF 
CITIES  IN  EACH  ioo  OF 
THE  TOTAL  POPU 
LATION. 

1790 

3,929,214 

I3M73 

3-35 

1800 

5,308,483 

210,873 

3-97 

1810 

7,239,881 

356,920 

4-93 

1820 

9,633,822 

475^35 

4-93 

1830 

12,866,020 

1,864,509 

6.72 

1840 

17,069,453 

M53,994 

8.52 

1850 

23,191,876 

2,897,586 

12.49 

1860 

3M43,32i 

5,072,256 

16.13 

1870 

38,558,371 

8,071,875 

20.93 

1880 

5Q'1  55>783 

11,318,547 

22.57 

1890 

62,622,250 

18,284,385 

29.20 

1900 

76,304,799 

24,992,199 

31.10 

All  places  having  a  population  of  Sooo  and  over  are  classed  as  cities. 

POPULATION   OF  THE    FREE  AND  THE    SLAVE    STATES, 
1790-1860. 


YEAR. 

FREE  STATES. 

SLAVE  STATES. 
(Including  Negroes.) 

1790 

1,968,455 

1,961,372 

I800 

2,684,616 

2,621,316 

1810 

3>758,910 

3,480,902 

1820 

5,152,372 

4,485,819 

I830 

7,006,399 

5,848,312 

1840 

9,733,922 

7,334,433 

1850 

13,599,488 

9,663,997 

1860 

19,128,418 

12,315,372 

REPRESENTATION    IN    CONGRESS 


xxxin 


REPRESENTATION   IN   CONGRESS    FROM    1790   TO   1903. 


YEAR. 

SENATE. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

X.ATIO  OF 
REPRESEN 
TATION.1 

FREE  STATES. 

SLAVE  STATES. 

FREE  STATES. 

SLAVE  STATES. 

1790 

14 

12 

35 

30 

30,000 

1793 

16 

H 

57 

48 

33,000 

1796 

16 

16 

57 

49 

33,000 

1803 

18 

16 

76 

65 

33,000 

1813 

18 

18 

103 

78 

35,000 

1816 

20 

18 

103 

78 

35*ooo 

1821 

24 

24 

I05 

81 

35,000 

1823 

24 

24 

123 

90 

40,000 

1833 

24 

24 

141 

99 

47,700 

1837 

26 

26 

142 

100 

47,700 

1843 

26 

26 

'35 

88 

70,680 

1848 

30 

30 

140 

9i 

70,680 

1853 

32 

30 

144 

90 

93»423 

1860 

36 

30 

i47 

90 

93*423 

1863 

72 

243 

127,381 

1873 

76 

293 

13^425 

1883 

76 

325 

151,911 

1893 

88 

356 

i73*90i 

1903 

90 

386 

193*175 

1  The  number  of  representatives  is  fixed  by  Congress  every  ten  years  (Constitution,  Art.  I, 
sect.  2).  To  find  the  electoral  vote,  add  together  the  number  of  senators  and  representatives  ; 
e.g.  the  electoral  vote  in  1790  was  91. 


xxxiv       THE   STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY 
THE    SECTIONS    IN   1870. 


SECTIONS. 

POPULATION 
IN  1870. 

SENATE. 

HOUSE. 

.ECT.  VOTES. 

H 

THE  SOUTH  :  (Ala.,  Ark.,  Fla.,  Ga.,  Ky.,  La.,  Md 

Miss.,  N.  C.,  S.  C.,  Tenn.,  Tex.,  Va.,  W.  V.) 
THE    NORTHWEST:    (111.,    la.,    Ind.,    Ks.,   Mich, 

12,032,225 

28 

92 

I2O 

Minn.,  Mo.,  Neb.,  O.,  Wis.) 
THE  MIDDLE  STATES  :  (Del.,  N!  J.,  N.  Y'.,  Penn.) 
NEW  ENGLAND  :  (Conn.,  Mass..  Me.,  N.  H.,  R.  I., 

12,702,299 
8,941,625 

20 

8 

98 
68 

118 
76 

Vt.)  

o 

THE  PACIFIC:  (Cal.,  Col.,  Nev.,  Or.)    

889,789 

8 

7 

40 
15 

Total    

38,925,598 

76 

293 

369 

The  total  population  includes  Territories  and  Indians. 

THE   SECTIONS    IN   1880. 


SECTIONS. 

POPULATION 
IN  1880. 

SENATE. 

w 

£ 

ELECT.  VOTES. 

THE  SOUTH      

16  188  757 

28 

THE  NORTHWEST    

THE  MIDDLE  STATES.     ... 

J7>229>    IO 

114 

'3 

NEW  ENGLAND    .... 

7° 

7° 

THE  PACIFIC  
Total  .... 

1,296,367 

8 

9 

3s 
i/ 

So^SS)?^ 

70 

325 

401 

flgf^  The  total  population  includes  Territories  and  Indians. 
Feb.  25,  1882,  took  effect  March  3,  il 


1883. 


The  Apportionment  Act  of 


THE   SECTIONS   IN   1890. 


SECTIONS. 

POPULATION 
IN  1890. 

H 
(- 
< 

I 

ELECT.  VOTES. 

THE  SOUTH     

THE  NORTHWEST     .... 

128 

'39 

THE  MIDDLE  STATES  

'x,   '  79 

g 

<g 

NEW  ENGLAND    

THE  PACIFIC  
Total  

2,606,495 

16 

27 

*7 

39 
33 

2>  22,250    

350 

444 

1^"  The  new  States  of  Montana,  Washington,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  and  Utah  are  classed 
with  the  Pacific  States.    The  Dakotas  are  classed  with  the  Northwest. 


includes  the  Territories.     The  Apportionment  Act  of  Feb.  7 
The  next  apportionment  will  take  effect  in  1903. 


The  total  population 
i,  took  effect  March  3, 1893. 


THE   SECTIONS 


XXXV 


THE    SECTIONS  IN   1900. 


SECTIONS. 

POPULATION 
IN  1900. 

SENATE. 

HOUSE. 

ELECT.  VOTES. 

NORTH  ATLANTIC  DIVISION    

21,046,695 

>443j4 

SOUTH  CENTRAL  DIVISION  .              .         .     . 

HAWAII  

154,001 

Total  

,86 

476 

The  Apportionment  Act  of  igoi  took  effect  in  1903. 


INDEX 


Abolitionists,  rise  of  the,  340,  355. 
Acadians,  expulsion  of  the,  149. 
Acquisition  of  industrial  rights,  564. 

of  political  rights,  563. 
Adams,  John,  elected  President,  258. 
administration  of,  260. 
John  Quincy,  elected  President,  326. 
administration  of,  327. 
and  slavery,  340,  343,  355,  357,  363- 
and  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  321,  322, 

323- 

Samuel,  184,  189,  191. 
Agriculture  in  1790,  250. 

in  the  West,  355,  409,  576>  S96,  597,  610. 
Department  of,  596. 
Alabama  admitted,  313. 
"Alabama  "  claims,  the,  451,  536. 
Alaska,  purchase  of,  526. 

boundary  settled,  608. 
Albany  founded, 50, 55. 
plan  of  union,  148. 
Algiers,  war  with,  278. 

treaty  with,  257. 
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  262. 
Alien  Contract  Labor  Act,  552. 
Allen,  Ethan,  191. 

Amendments  to   the   Constitution,  the  first 
twelve,  242,   271. 

after  the  Civil  War,  518,  520,  528. 
America  discovered  by  the  Northmen,  i. 
discovered  by  Columbus,  7. 
continent  of,  discovered  (1497)  by  John 

Cabot,  9. 

claimed  (1497)  by  England,  9,  10. 
how  discovered  to  be  a  continent,  ir. 
name  of,  1 1 . 

effects  of  the  discovery  of,  on  Europe,  26. 
English  and  French  colonies,  17,  19. 
England's  reasons  for  colonizing,  31. 
First  law-making  assembly  in,  38. 
Dutch  settlements  in,  48. 
First  permanent  English  settlement  in, 

French  settlements  in,  17,  18. 

Spanish  settlements  in,  17,  18. 

Swedish  settlements  in,  116. 

struggle  of  England  and  France  for,  137- 
154- 

declares  itself  independent,  201. 

first  flag  of,  198,  210. 
"American  Policy  "  (tariff),  323,  344. 
Americas,  Congress  of  the  three,  561. 
Amnesty,  proclamations  of,  514,  521,  525, 

569- 
Anarchists  at  Chicago,  556. 


Anderson,  Major  R.,  at  Fort  Sumter,  437; 

Andersonville  prison  pen,  476. 
Andr£  executed,  219. 
Andros,  Governor,  56,  57,  65,  89,  105. 
Anne's,  Queen,  War,  145. 
Annexation  of  Texas,  371-375- 
Anthracite  coal  discovered,  128. 
Antietam,  battle  of,  470. 
Anti-Slavery  (see  Abolitionists),  340. 
Appomattox,  Lee's  surrender  at,  506. 
Apprentices,  white,  in  Virginia,  37,  39. 
Arbitration,  international,  535,  572,  576,612. 
Arkansas  slave  territory,  314. 

admitted,  356. 
Army  of  the  Revolution,  191,  192. 

of  the  War  of  1812,  292. 

of  the  Mexican  War,  382. 

of  the  Civil  War,  446,  45°.  5°9>  5l6.  S'7- 
Arnold,  Benedict,  in  the  Revolution,   199, 

2IO. 

treason  of,  218. 
Art,  early  American,  172. 
Arthur  becomes  President,  551. 
Articles  of  Confederation,  202,  226,  228,  233, 
Assemblies,  Colonial,  38,  53,  55,  61,  64,  73, 

78,  92,  96,  103,  105,  109,  no,  113,  114,  117, 

120,  127,  129,  135. 
Assistance,  Writs  of,  179. 
Association,  Articles  of,  188. 
Assumption  of  state  debts,  244. 
Astor,  John  J.,  and  the  War  of  1812,  293. 

and  Oregon,  379. 
Atlanta  taken  by  Sherman,  496. 

Exhibition,  574. 

Atlantic  telegraph  completed,  525. 
Austin,  S.  F.,  and  Texas,  320. 
Australian  ballot  introduced,  560. 
Authors,  American,  348. 

Bacon,  Nathaniel,  rebellion  of,  44,  45. 
Balboa  discovers  the  Pacific,  14. 
Ballot,  Australian,  or  secret,  560. 
Baltimore,  Lord,  founds  Maryland,  107 
Baltimore,  city  of,  founded,  in. 

first  blood  in  Civil  War  shed  at,  447. 
Bank,  the  first  U.S.,  established,  245. 

the  second  U.  S.,  305. 

U.  S.,  Jackson  and  the,  349~353- 
Banks,  the  "  pet,"  353. 

state,  310,  353. 

"wildcat,"  310,  353. 

national,  established,  452. 

savings  banks,  growth  of,  598. 
Banks,  General  N.  P.,  467,  4»8. 


xxxviii      THE    STUDENT'S  AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Baptist  Church,  the  first,  113. 

Baptists  driven  out  of  Massachusetts,  86. 

denied  liberty  of  worship,  no. 

go  to  Rhode  Island,  113. 
Battle  of  Alamance,  122. 

Allatoona,  499. 

Antietam,  or  Sharpsburg,  470. 

Atlanta,  496. 

Averysboro,  504. 

Ball's  Bluff  (note),  460. 

Bemis  Heights,  210. 

Bennington,  208. 

Bentonville,  504. 

Big  Black  River,  486. 

Bladensburg, 298. 

Brandywine,  208. 

Buena  Vista,  385. 

Bull  Run  (first),  or  Manassas,  456. 

Bull  Run  (second),  or  Manassas,  469. 

Bunker  Hill,  197,  198. 

Camden  (first),  217. 

Camden  (second),  or  Hobkirk's   Hill, 

222. 

Cerro  Gordo,  385. 
Champion  Hifls,  486. 
Chancellorsville,  479. 
Chapultepec,  386. 
Charleston,  217. 

evacuated,  504. 
"  Chesapeake  "   and  "  Shannon,"   295, 

,  2.96- 

Chickamauga,  489. 
Chippewa,  298. 
Chrysler's  Farm,  298. 
Churubusco,  386. 
Cold  Harbor,  493. 
Concord,  190. 
"  Constellation,"  the,  captures  a  French 

frigate,  261. 

"Constitution"  and  "  Guerriere,"  294. 
Contreras,  386. 
Corinth,  477. 
Cowpens,  220. 
Crown  Point,  190. 
Dallas,  496. 

Detroit,  Hull's  surrender  of,  293. 
"  Essex,"  the,  in  the  Pacific,  295. 
Eutaw  Springs,  222. 
Fair  Oaks,  or  Seven  Pines,  467. 
Flamborough  Head  (Paul  Jones),  216. 
Fort  Donelson,  461. 
Fort  Duquesne,  148. 
Fort  Fisher,  503. 
Fort  Henry,  461. 
Fort  McAllister,  501. 
Fort  McHenry,  298. 
Fort  Minis  (massacre),  299. 
Fort  Moultrie,  200. 
Fort  Pillow,  476. 
Fort  Stanwix,  210. 
Fort  Sumter,  444. 
Fort  Wagner,  476. 
Fort  Washington,  204. 
Franklin,  501. 
Fredericksburg,  470. 
Germantown,  208. 
Gettysburg,  479-484. 
Guilford  Court  House,  222. 
Hobkirk's  Hill,  222. 
Horseshoe  Bend,  or  Tohopeka,  299. 


1  Merrimac,"  463, 


Battle  of  Island  Number  Ten,  463. 
Juka,  477- 

"  Kearsarge  "  and  "Alabama,"  502. 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  496. 
King's  Mountain,  219. 
Lake  Champlain,  297. 
Lake  Erie,  296. 
Lexington,  189,  190. 
Long  Island,  203,  204. 
Lookout  Mountain,  489. 
Louisburg,  146. 
Lundy's  Lane,  298. 
Manila,  590,  593,  594. 
Mill  Springs,  461. 
Missionary  Ridge,  489,  490. 
Mobile  Bay,  502. 
Molino  del  Rey,  386. 
"  Monitor  "  and  the  " 

464. 

Monmouth,  213. 
Monterey,  383. 

Murfreesboro,  or  Stone  River,  478. 
Narragansett  Fort,  87. 
Nashville,  501. 
New  Orleans  (1815),  302. 
New  Orleans  (1862),  465. 
Oriskany,  210. 
Palo  Alto,  383. 
Pea  Ridge,  460. 
Peninsular  Campaign,  466. 
Pequot  Fort,  102. 
Perryville,  477. 
Petersburg,  493. 
Petersburg  (Mine),  495. 
Pittsburg  Landing,  or  Shiloh,  463. 
Port  Hudson,  488. 
Princeton,  206. 
Quebec  (1759),  151. 
Quebec  (1775),  199. 
Resaca,  496. 

Resaca  de  la  Palma,  383.  • 

San  Juan,  592. 
Santiago,  592. 
Saratoga,  211. 
Savannah, 501. 

Seven  days  round  Richmond,  468. 
Spottsylvania  Court  House,  493. 
Stony  Point,  216. 

Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  190,  191. 
Tippecanoe,  289. 
Tohopeka,  299. 
Trenton,  205,  206. 
Tripoli,  278. 
Tullahoma,  478,  489. 
Turner's  Falls,  88. 
Vera  Cruz,  385. 
Vicksburg,  siege  and  capture   of,  484- 

488. 

Wilderness,  the,  492. 
Wilson's  Creek  (note),  460. 
Winchester,  495. 
Yorktown,  225. 

Beauregard,  General  P.  G.  T.,  445,463,  477. 
Bemis  Heights,  or  Saratoga,  battle  of,  210. 
Benton,  Thomas  H.,  352,  372,  379,  399,  410. 
Bering  Sea  case,  572. 
Berkeley,  Sir  William,  41. 
Biloxi,  the  French  build  a  fort  at,  142. 
Black  Friday,  541. 
Black  Hawk  War,  349. 


INDEX 


XXXIX 


Bland- Allison   Silver  Act,   546  5    repealed, 

Blockade,  the,  in  the  Civil  War,  508. 
"Blue  Light  Federalists,"  299. 
Boone,  Daniel,  in  Kentucky,  123. 
Border  states  in  the  Civil  War,  448. 
Boston,  settlement  of,  76. 

Latin  School,  82. 

Massacre,  183. 

"  Tea  Party,"  185.  „ 

port  of,  closed,  186. 

siege  of,  189-199.  • 

evacuated  by  the  British,  200. 
Braddock's  defeat,  149,  150. 
Bradford,  Governor,  of  Plymouth,  71. 
Bragg,  General  B.,  477. 
"  Brook  Farm,"  360. 
Brown,  John,  in  Kansas,  415. 

raid  and  execution  of,  430. 

John  Brown  song,  432. 
Brown  University  founded,  115. 
Buchanan  elected  President,  420. 

administration  of,  421-442. 
Buell,  General  D.  C.,  462,  477- 
"  Bummers,"  Sherman's,  500. 
Burgesses,  House  of,  established,  38. 
Burgoyne  expedition,  208-210. 
Burnside,  General  A.  E.,  470,  479. 
Burr,  Aaron,  conspiracy  of,  280. 
Butler,   General   B.   F.,  and  the   "contra 
bands,"  470. 
at  New  Orleans,  465,  471,  503. 

Cabeza  de  Vaca,  14. 
Cabinet,  the  first,  240. 

the  enlarged  (note),  557. 
Cabot,  John,  discovers  (1497)  tne  continent 
of  America,  9. 

claims  America  (1497)  for  England,  9, 10. 
Cabots,  voyages  of  the,  8,  9. 
Calhoun  and  nullification,  344. 

resolutions  (1837),  363;  (1847),  390. 
defends  slavery,  343,  363,  400. 
"  Exposition  and  Protest,"  335. 
urges  the  annexation  of  Texas,  372. 
advocates  War  of  1812,  290. 
"  Liberty  dearer  than  Union,"  339. 
and  Compromises  of  1850,  399. 
California,  conquest  of,  386-388. 
gold  found  in,  391. 
emigration  to,  392. 
"Vigilance  Committee,"  393. 
results  of  production  of  gold,  394. 
debate  on  admission  of,  as  free  state,  399. 
admission  of,  402. 
Canal,  the  Erie,  328,  613. 
the  Panama,  602,  608. 
Canon  of  the  Colorado  discovered,  16. 
Carolina,  settlements  of  North  and  South, 
118. 

"The  Grand  Model,"  119. 
religious  toleration,  120. 
settlement  of  Charleston,  120. 
Huguenot  emigrants,  120. 
trade  in  rice  and  indigo,  121. 
Indian  wars,  121. 
Governor  Tryon,  122. 
battle  of  Alamance,  122. 
Robertson  and  Sevier,  122,  123. 
Stamp  Act  Congress,  123. 


Carolina,  nullification  in,  344. 
secession  of,  436. 
negro  rule  in,  533. 
"  Caroline  "  affair,  the,  364. 
Carpenters'  Hall,  the  first  Congress  meets 

in,  187. 

"Carpetbaggers,"  532,  533. 
Cartier's  explorations,  17. 
Carver,  Governor  John,  71. 
Catholics,  the,  in  England,  67,  68,  108. 
severe  treatment  of,  35,  59. 
not  allowed  to  enter  Virginia,  35,  107. 
emigrate  to  Maryland,  108. 
establish    the    first    English    Catholic 

Church  in  America,  108. 
first  in  Pennsylvania,  168. 
grant  religious  freedom  to  all  Christians, 

109. 

are  deprived  of  their  rights,  109,  no. 
missions,  138. 

the,  in  the  different  colonies,  57,  59,  65, 

85,86,91,110,  in,  114,120,126,167, 168. 

Louis  XIV  excludes  Protestants  from 

Louisiana,  142. 
Caucus,  Congressional,  325. 
"  Caucus  King,"  overthrow  of,  325. 
Cavaliers,  the,  in  Virginia,  42. 
Census,  the  first  (1790),  248. 
Census  of  1800,  268. 
of  1860,  449. 

of  1890,  567  ;  of  1900,  601. 
Centennial  Exhibition  of  1876,  542. 
celebrations,  559. 
Patent  Office,  celebration  of,  568. 
See  Exhibitions. 
Chambersburg,  burning  of,  494. 
Champlain,  the  French  explorer,  137. 
Channing,  Dr.,  on  slavery,  341. 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  settlement  of, 
120. 

surrenders  to  the  Union  army,  504. 
Charter  Oak,  the,  105. 
Charter  of  the  Virginia  Companies  (1606), 

Charters,  colonial.     See  Colonies. 
Chase,  Secretary  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  445. 
Chatham,  Lord.     See  Pitt. 
"Chesapeake,"  the,  and  the   "Shannon," 

295- 
Chicago,  first  settlement  at,  270,  349. 

anarchists  in,  556. 

strike  at,  572,  573. 

Columbian  Exposition  at,  571. 
China,  "  the  open  door"  in,  600. 
Chinese  immigration,  552,  557. 

exclusion,  552,  557. 
Christian  Commission,  the,  454. 
Church  and  State,  separation  of,  167,  i6V,  242, 

312. 

Cincinnati,  settlement  of,  249. 
Cities,  growth  and  government  of,  584,  613. 
Civil  Service  Reform,  545.  551- 

progress  in,  577,  579>  6l2- 
Civil  War,  beginning  of  the,  444. 

uprising  of  the  North,  446. 

uprising  of  the  South,  447. 

North  vs.  South  in  the,  449-451. 

financial  side  of,  451. 

Union  navy  in,  451. 

Confederate  privateers  in,  451. 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Civil  War,  foreign  powers  in,  453. 

Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions  in, 

454- 

woman's  work  in  the,  454,  455. 
object  of,  455. 
cost  of,  509. 
loss  of  life  in,  509. 
results  of,  510,  511. 
the  grand  review,  516. 
condition  of  the  South  after  the,  517. 
Clark  and  Lewis,  expedition  of,  276. 

George  Rogers,  and  the  West,  214. 
Clay,    Henry,    his    American    system,    or 
tariff,  306,  323,  344. 
Compromise  Measures,  319,  399. 
advocates  War  of  1812,  290. 
condemnation  of  slavery,  340. 
denunciation  of  Abolitionists,  343. 
letter  of,  374. 

favors  the  extension  of  slavery,  315. 
resolutions  on  slavery,  363. 
Clayborne  and  Ingle,  109. 
Cleveland  elected  President,  553. 
administration  of,  555-560. 
vetoes  by,  557,  55$. 
second  election  of,  570. 
administration  of,  570-579. 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  and  the  Erie  Canal,  328. 
Clinton,  General,  191,  200,  213,  214,  224. 
Coal  comes  into  use,  249. 
the  great  strike,  607. 

Cod  fisheries,  Newfoundland  (1497-1498),  10; 
(1600),  31  ;  (1775),  189;  (1783),  226. 

disputes  about  the,  536,  558. 
Coinage,  first,  245,  246. 
Coinage  Act,  New,  538,  539. 
Silver,  Act,  546,  565. 

repealed,  572. 

College,  Harvard,  founded,  82,  172. 
William  and  Mary,  172. 
Yale,  founded,  104,  172. 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  172. 
Columbia,  172. 
Brown  University,  115,  172. 
Dartmouth,  98. 
Colonies,  Dutch,  48. 
English,  19,  32. 
French,  17,  18. 
Spanish  (St.  Augustine),  18. 
Swedish,  116. 

general  view  of,  in  1763,  156-176. 
population  of,  156. 
government  of,  157. 
laws  of,  158,  159,  160. 
slavery  in,  161,  162. 
conflicting  interests  in,  162. 
"  poor  whites  "  in,  162. 
industries  in,  163,  164. 
commerce,  163. 
manufactures,  164. 
currency,  165. 
roads,  165. 
travel,  166. 
post  office,  1 66. 
religion,  166. 
press,  168. 

literature  and  education,  168-172. 
science  and  art,  172. 
discoveries  and  inventions,  172,  17-1. 
mode  of  life,  173,  174. 


Colonies,  indications  of  the  coming  Revolu 
tion,  174,  175. 

importance  of  colonial  period,  175,  176. 
loyalty  of,  179. 
Colorado  admitted,  542. 
Colt's  revolver,  355. 
Columbia  River  discovered,  250. 
Columbus    proposes    a    new    route    to    the 
Indies,  4. 

voyage  to  America  (1492),  6. 
letter  of,  respecting  the  New  World,  7. 
his  return  to  Spain,  7. 
what  he  discovered,  8. 
his  death,  8. 

greatness  of  his  work,  8. 
Commerce  of  U.S. ,240,  249,  250, 338,  582, 610. 
Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  399. 
Missouri,  317,  318. 
Crittenden,  435. 
Confederacy,  New  England  (1643),  83. 

the  Southern,  organized,  438. 
Confederation,  Articles  of,  226. 
provisions  of  the,  228. 
weakness  of  the,  229. 
state  of  country  under  the,  229. 
attempts  of  Congress  of,  to  raise  money, 

230. 

Congregationalists  in  colonies,  167. 
Congress,  First  Continental,  187. 
Second  Continental,  191. 
first,  under  the  Constitution,  239. 
Panama,  331. 
Pan-American,  561. 
Congressional  Library  Building,  583. 
Connecticut,  first  settlement  of,  100. 
reasons  for  settling,   ior. 
war  with  the  Pequots,  101. 
constitution  of,  102. 
New  Haven  Colony,  103. 
free  schools,  104. 
Yale  University,  104. 
regicides,  104. 

Andros  and  the  charter  of,  105,  106. 
New  Haven  united  with,  105. 
Charter  Oak,  106. 
extent  of,  under  its  charter,  105. 
Constitution,  Convention  to  frame,  233. 
conflicting  opinions  in  Convention,  234. 
the    three    great    compromises    of   the. 

235- 

the  new,  adopted,  236. 
"broad"  vs.  "strict"  construction  of, 

246,  247,  265. 
amendments  to,  242,  271,  520,  521,  528, 


the  "  elastic  clause  "  of,  247. 
the  "Grand  Model,"  119. 
of  Pennsylvania  ("  Great  Law  "),  126. 
Constitutions,  revised  state,  511,  584. 
"  Contrabands  "  (fugitive  slaves),  472. 
Convention,  first  national  presidential,  352. 
Convicts  sent  to  America,  161. 
"  Copperheads"  in  the  Civil  War,  453,  469, 

470,  480. 

Corn  found  in  America,  27. 
Cornwallis,  General,  200,  205,  206,  217,  221, 

224,  225. 

Coronado's  expedition,  16. 
Corporations  and  "  trusts,"  581. 
Correspondence  Committees  (1772-1 773),  184. 


INDEX 


xli 


Cotton  found  in  America,  27. 

first  exported,  250. 

gin  invented,  251. 

effect  on  slavery,  251. 

exhibition  at  New  Orleans,  553. 

manufacture  first  established,  251. 

effect  of  War  of  1812  on  manufacture  of, 
306. 

crop  of  1884,  554. 

manufacture  in  1890,  574. 
Cotton-seed  oil,  554. 
Covode  investigation  (note),  429. 
Coxey  "  industrial  army,"  572. 
Crawford  Tenure  of  Office  Act,  319. 
Credit  Mobilier  (note),  531. 
Croatoan,  20. 

Crystal  Palace  (1853),  408. 
Cuba,  419,  585-590,  604,  606. 
Currency.    See     Finance,     Money,     Silver, 

Gold,  Greenbacks,  Banks. 
Custer,  General,  killed,  544. 

Daguerreotype,  introduction  of  the,  364. 
Dale,  Governor,  in  Virginia,  36. 
Davenport,  Rev.  John,  103. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  in  Mexican  War,  385. 
in  Congress,  399,  411. 
advocates  secession,  429. 
President  of  Confederate  States,  438. 
capture  of,  506. 

Debt,  Hamilton's  Report  on  U.  S.,  242. 
funding  the,  244. 
of  the  War  of  1812,  293,  300. 
of  the  Civil  War,  510. 
payment  of,  begun,  517. 
Grant  on  payment  of  the,  528. 
reduction  of  interest  on,  548. 
present,  of  the  United  States,  548. 
of  the  War  with  Spain,  595. 
Decatur,  Commodore,  278. 
Declaration  of  Independence,  201. 
De  Gourges'  revenge,  18. 
Delaware,  Lord,  36. 
Delaware,  settled  by  the  Swedes,  116. 
seized  by  the  Dutch,  116. 
English,  1 16. 

granted  to  William  Penn,  117. 
becomes  independent,  117. 
first  state  to  enter  the  Union,  117. 
Delaware,  Washington  crosses  the,  205. 
De  Leon,  Ponce,  discovers  Florida,  13. 
Democratic  party.     See  Parties. 
Demonetization  of  silver,  538,  539. 
Deposits,  Jackson  withdraws  the,  353. 
De  Soto,  expedition  of,  15. 

discovers  the  Mississippi,  15. 
is  buried  in  it,  15. 
De  Vaca,  Cabeza,  14. 
Dewey,  Rear  Admiral,  590,  591,  593,  594. 
Diaz,  Bartholomew,  voyage  of  (1487)*  4- 
Dinwiddie,  Governor,  of  Virginia,  46. 
Disunion.     See  Secession. 
Dollar,  the  first,  coined,  246. 
demonetized,  539. 
remonetized,  547. 

demand  for  free  silver,  566,  577,  578. 
bullion  value  of  the,  548,  566,  571. 
a  fiat  paper,  demanded,  543. 
Dorr  rebellion,  the,  369. 
"  Doughfaces"  in  politics,  318. 


Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  374,  397, 409.  41°,  42Q> 

432,  446. 

Dover,  N.H.,  settled,  94. 
Draft  riots  in  New  York,  480. 
Drake,  voyage  of  (1577-1579),  n,  19- 

names  Pacific  coast  New  Albion,  19. 
Dred  Scott  case,  421,  424. 
Duluth,  144. 
Dutch,    the,    in    New    Netherland    (New 

York),  47. 

seize  the  Delaware  country,  63. 

dispossessed  of  New  York  by  the  Eng 
lish,  55. 

dispossessed  of  Delaware,  63. 

Eads',  Captain,  work  on  the  Mississippi, 

549* 

Early's  raid,  493. 
Education.     See  Schools  and  Colleges. 

Governor  Berkeley  on,  in  Virginia,  171. 
in  the  colonies,  171 ;  higher,  613. 
beginning  of  free,  in  America,  82. 
at  the  West,  271,  272,  330,  564,  597. 
at  the  South  since  the  war,  575. 
Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan,  169. 
Election  of  Hayes  disputed,  544. 
Election,  presidential,  Washington(i788),238. 
Washington  (1792),  251,  252. 
J.  Adams  (1796),  258. 
Jefferson  (1800),  266,  267. 

(1804),  277. 
Madison  (1808),  286. 
"       (1812),  295. 
Monroe  (1816),  307. 

"         (1820),  320. 
J.  Q.  Adams  (1824),  325- 
Jackson  (1828),  335. 
(1832),  352. 

Van  Buren  (1836),  356. 
Harrison  (1840),  366. 
Polk  (1844),  373. 
Taylor  (1848),  395- 
Pierce  (1852),  406. 
Buchanan  (1856),  419. 
Lincoln  (1860),  432-434. 
(1864),  498- 


Grant  (1868),  524. 

(1872),  536. 


Hayes  (1876),  543. 

Garfield(i88o),  549. 

Cleveland  (1884),  553. 

Harrison  (1888),  559. 

Cleveland  (1892),  569. 

McKinley  (1896),  577. 
(1900),  603. 

Roosevelt  (1904),  611. 

See  names  of  Presidents. 
Electoral  Commission,  544. 

Count  Act,  557. 
Electric  railways,  378. 

light,  378. 

telegraph,  the,  375,  5.25- 
Electricity,  Franklin's  discoveries  in,  172. 

progress  in  application  ot,  172,  377. 
Eliot's,  Rev.  John,  work  among  the  Indians, 

86. 
Emancipation  of  slaves,  asked  for,  248. 

Lincoln's  plan  of,  472. 

in  the  District  of  Columbia,  473. 

in  the  Territories,  473. 


xlii 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Emancipation,  Lincoln's  letter  on,  473. 

Proclamation  of  warning,  474. 

final  Proclamation,  474. 

results  of,  475. 
Embargo,  the  first,  256. 

Act  (1807),  283. 

results  of  the,  285. 
Emigration  to  the  United  States,  365. 

from  China,  restricted,  552. 

laws  concerning,  552,  557. 
Endicott,  Governor,  75. 
English  explorations,  early,  19. 

attempts  to  colonize  America,  19,  20. 

first  permanent  colony  in  America,  32. 
Episcopalians  in  Massachusetts,  75,  86,  93, 
95,  166,  167. 

in  the  Middle  Colonies  and  the  South, 

166,  167. 

"  Era  of  Good  Feeling,"  308. 
Ericson,  Leif,  voyages  of,  2. 
Ericsson  invents  the  screw  propeller,  355. 

"  Monitor,"  464. 
Erie  Canal,  328. 

"  Essex,"  the,  in  the  War  of  1812,  295. 
Ether,   Dr.  Morton's   discovery  respecting, 

395- 

Exchange  of  prisoners  (Civil  War),  476. 
Excise  tax,  241. 
Exhibition,  American  World's  Fair,  408. 

the  Centennial,  542. 

the  New  Orleans,  553. 

World's  Columbian,  571. 

the  Atlanta,  574. 

at  Omaha,  595. 

at  St.  Louis,  609-611. 
Exports,  American,  582. 
Express  system  established,  364. 

"  Farmer's  Letters,  A,"  183. 
Farms,  great,  of  the  West,  576. 

See,  too,  Agriculture. 
Farragut,  Admiral,  takes  New  Orleans,  466. 

enters  Mobile  Bay,  502. 
Federalists,  the,  246. 

fall  of  the,  267,  302. 

"  Blue  Light,"  299. 

Filibusters  attempt  tc  seize  Cuba  and  Cen 
tral  America,  419. 
Fillmore  becomes  President,  402. 
Finance.     See   Banks,    Gold,    Greenbacks, 
Loans,   Panics,  Silver,   Tariff,   Taxation, 
Treasury. 

Finances  of  the  Revolution,  195. 
Financial  side  of  the  Civil  War",  451. 
Fires,  the  Chicago  and  the  Boston,  SAO. 
Fiscal  Bank  Bill,  the,  368. 
Fisheries,    the    Newfoundland   (1497-1498), 
10 ;  (1600),  31  ;  (1775),  189;  (1783),  226. 

dispute  about,  536,  544,  558. 
Fitch's  steamboat,  279. 
Flag,  the  first  American,  198,  210. 

first^ American,  on  a  wa-  ship,  99. 

the  "  Star  Spangled  banner,"  299. 

the,  protects  the  crew,  370. 

the  "bear,"  California,  387. 

the  Confederate,  438. 

the  Union,  triumphant,  507. 
Florida,  discovery  and  naming  of,  13, 

Narvaez  in,  14 

De  Sotoin,  i  . 


Florida,  French  and  Spaniards  in,  17,  18. 

ceded  to  England;  retroceded,  153. 

purchase  of,  by  the  United  States,  3 10. 

admitted,  374. 

Foote,  Commodore  A.  H.,  462. 
"  Force  Act  "  (1809),  285 ;  (1832),  345  ;  (1871), 

534,  572- 

Forests,  preservation  of,  597. 
Fort  Dearborn,  now  Chicago,  270. 

Donelson  captured  by  Grant,  462. 

Duquesne,  148. 

Pitt,  now  Pittsburg,  151. 

Fisher,  capture  of,  503. 

Monroe  garrisoned,  456,  472. 

Necessity  built  by  Washington,  148. 

Mims,  massacre  at,  299. 

Orange,  now  Albany,  55. 

Moultrie,  200. 
Forts,  line  of   French,  in  the  West  in  the 

eighteenth  century,  144. 
France  sends  expedition  to  America,  17. 

colonies  of,  in  America,  17,  18,  41. 

struggle  of,  with  England  for  America, 
137-156. 

recognizes  American  independence,  212. 

aid  from,  in  the  Revolution,  192,   193, 

196,  211,  212,  223,  224,  243. 

our  relations  with  (1793),  252-254. 

trouble  with,  253,  260,  261. 

war  with,  261. 

John  Adams'  treaty  with,  262. 

sells  us  Louisiana,  273. 

See  the  French. 
Franklin,  writings  of,  170. 

electrical  experiments  of,  172. 

snake,  the  (Albany  Convention),  148. 

and  the  Stamp  Act,  180. 

negotiates  treaty  with  France,  211. 

helps  frame  the  Constitution,  233,  236. 
Free-Soil  Party,  396. 
"  Freedmen,"  the,  513,  514. 

Bureau  Bill,  519. 

present  condition  of ,  575,  584. 
Fremont,  J.  C.,  conquers  California,  386. 

in  the  Civil  War,  460,  472. 

nominated  for  the  Presidency,  498. 
French,  the,  explore  the  St.  Lawrence,  17. 

the,  in  Carolina  and  Florida,  17,  18. 

explore    and    take    possession     of    the 
West,  137. 

found   Mobile  and  New  Orleans,    142, 

build  line  of  forts  in  the  West,  144. 

and  Indian  Wars,  144-146. 

attack  on  Schenectady,  145. 

See  France,  Huguenots. 
Friction  matches,  173,  355. 
Friends,  or  Quakers,  buy  New  Jersey,  64, 

65- 

treaties  with  the  Indians,  126. 

in  Massachusetts,  84,  85. 

severely  dealt  with,  84,  85. 

George  Fox  founds  the  Society  of,  83. 

found  Pennsylvania,  124. 

remonstrance  against  slavery  (.1688),  127. 

in  general,  54,  64,  65,  73,  82,  83,  84,  85, 

103,  109,  no,  113,  115,  120,  124,  126, 

127,  128,  129. 
See  William  Penn. 
Frobisher's  voyages,  19- 


INDEX 


xliii 


Frontier  line,  none  in  1890,  567. 
Fugitive-slave  law,  248,  371. 

of  1850,  403. 

enforcement  of  the,  404. 
Fulton's  steamboat,  279. 

Gadsden,  Christopher,  124. 
Gadsden  purchase,  the,  389. 
Gage,  General,  in  Boston,  189. 

proclamation,  191. 
"Gag  rule,"  355,  363. 
Garfield  elected  President,  549. 

assassination  of,  551. 
Garrison  publishes  the  "  Liberator,"  341. 

mobbed,  342. 
Gas  comes  into  use,  355. 
"  Gaspee,"  the,  destroyed,  184. 
Gates,  General  H.,  210,  211,  217. 
Genet,  "Citizen,"  253. 
Geography  and  U.  S.  History,  28. 
George  III,  accession  and  policy  of,  177. 
Georgia,  settlement  of,  131. 

Oglethorpe  in,  131. 

charter  of,  131. 

slavery  in,  132,  134,  135. 

production  of  silk  in,  133. 

Savannah  settled  (1733),  133. 

Salzburgers,  133. 

introduction  of  negroes  and  rum,  135. 

Oglethorpe  and  the  Spaniards  in,  135. 

becomes  a  royal  province,  136. 

in  the  Revolution,  136. 

Indian  land  cessions,  330. 

controversy  with  the  U.  S.,  330,  345. 
"  Gerrymander,"  the,  319. 
Gettysburg,  battle  of,  480,  482. 

Lincoln's  address  at,  484. 
Ghent,  treaty  of,  303. 
Giddings,  370,  403. 
Gifts  and  bequests,  599. 
Gilbert,  voyage  of  Sir  H.,  19. 
Goffe,  the  regicide,  at  Hadley,  87. 
Gold,  discovery  of,  in  California,  391. 

effects  of,  in  1857,  393,  394. 
Gold  Standard  Act,  600. 
"  Good  Feeling,  the  Era  of,"  308. 
Good  Hope,  Cape  of,  named,  4. 
Gorges,  Sir  F.,  94,  95. 
Gosnold  s  expedition,  31. 
Governments,  colonial.   See  Colonies. 

organization  of  our  present,  239,  240. 

See  Constitution  and  United  States. 
"Grand  Model,"  the,  119. 
Grant,  General  U.  S.,  takes  Fort  Henry, 
462. 

"  unconditional  surrender"  letter,  462. 

takes  Fort  Donelson,  462. 

at  Pittsburg  Landing,  463. 

takes  Vicksburg,  484-488. 

made  general  in  chief,  490. 

and  Sherman's  "  hammering  campaign," 
491. 

in  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  492. 

sends  Sheridan  to  lay  waste  the   Shen- 
andoah  Valley,  494. 

takes  Petersburg,  506. 

in  Richmond,  506. 

receives  Lee's  surrender,  506. 

elected  President,  525, 

administration  of,  528. 


Grant,  General  U.S.,  second  election  of,  538. 

death  of,  555. 
Greeley's,  Horace,  letter  to  Lincoln,  473. 

nominated  for  the  Presidency,  537,  538. 
"Greenback"  party,  the,  542. 
"  Greenbacks,"  issue  of,  452. 

redemption  of,  in  part,  547. 
Greene,  General  N.,  at  the  South,  220. 

campaign  in  the  Carolinas,  220-222. 

Hague  Court  of  Arbitration,  600. 

"  Hail  Columbia,"  song  of,  261. 

"Halfway  Covenant,"  78. 

Halleck,  General  H.,  468. 

Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  240. 

financial  measures  of,  242-245. 

leads  the  Federalists,  246,  247. 

shot  by  Burr,  280. 

Hancock,  John,  British  attempt  to  seize, 
189. 

made  President  of  Congress,  191. 

British  refuse  to  offer  pardon  to,  191. 
Hancock,  General  W.  S.,  at  Gettysburg,  483. 
Harnden  founds  the  express  business,  364. 
Harrison,  General,  at  Tippecanoe,  289. 

presidential  campaign,  366. 

elected  President,  366. 

death  of,  367. 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  elected  President,  560. 

administration  of ,  560,  561. 
Hartford  Convention  (1814),  300. 
Harvard  University  founded,  82. 
Hawaii,  Republic  of,  573. 

annexed,  594. 
Hayes  elected  President,  544. 

election  of,  disputed,  544. 

administration  of,  545. 
Hayne's  debate  with  Webster,  338. 
Henry,  Patrick,  resolutions  of,  on  Commit 
tee  of  Correspondence,  181,  185. 

"We  must  fight,"  189. 
Henry,  letters,  the,  200. 
Hessians  in  the  Revolution,  193,  205. 
Higher  law,  the,  Seward's  appeal  to,  401. 
Hoe's  press,  349. 

"  Holy  Experiment,"  Penn's,  124. 
Homestead  Act,  596. 
Hood,  General  J.  B.,  496,  501. 
Hooker,  General  J.,  479,  489. 
Hooker,  Rev.  Thomas,  102. 
Hopkins,  "Admiral"  Esek,  193. 
Howe,  Admiral,  arrives  at  New  York,  203, 
Howe's,  Elias,  sewing  machine,  394. 
Howe,  General,  arrives  at  Boston,  191. 

at  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  197. 

made  comm.mder  in  chief.  198. 

is  driven  from  Boston,  200. 

sails  for  Halifax,  200. 

arrives  at  New  York,  202. 

takes  Brooklyn  Heights,  204. 

drives  Washington  from  New  York,  204 

Washington  baffles,  207. 

sails  for  Philadelphia,  207. 

enters  Philadelphia,  208. 

is  superseded  by  Clinton,  213. 
Howes,   the,    offer    pardon    to    submissive 

rebels,  203. 
Hudson,  Henry,  47. 
Huguenots  attempt  to  settle  in  America,  17, 


xliv 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Huguenots  settle  in  Charleston,  120. 

illustrious  descendants  of  the,  120. 
Hull,  Captain  Isaac,  victory  of,  294. 
Hull's,  William,  march  to  Detroit,  293. 

surrender,  293. 

Hiilsemann  letter,  Webster's,  406. 
Hutchinson,  Governor,  185,  187,  194. 

Mrs.  Anne,  81. 

Idaho  admitted,  561. 
Illinois,  La  Salle  in,  141. 

admitted,  313. 
Immigration  to  the  U.  S.,  365,  596. 

Chinese,  restricted,  552. 

Chinese,  prohibited,  557. 
Impeachment  of  President  Johnson,  524. 
Impressment  of  American  sailors,  255. 
Improvement  of  the  Mississippi,  549. 
"  Improvements,  Internal,"  question  of,  278, 

320,  325,  327,  331. 

Indented  apprentices  or  servants,  37,  39,  76. 
Independence,  Declaration  of,  201. 
Indiana  conquered  by  Clark,  215. 

part  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  228. 

admitted,  307. 
Indians,  why  so  named,  7. 

their  character  and  numbers,  20. 

influence  on  white  settlers,  21. 

indebtedness  of  the  colonists  to  the,  22. 

value  of  wampum,  22. 

labor  of  the,  22. 

trade  with  the,  22,  48,  134. 

trails  and  waterways  of  the,  24. 

war  with  the  Pequots,  101. 

wars  with  the,  23. 

King  Philip's  War,  86. 

war  with,  in  Virginia,  44. 

our  relations  with  the,  25. 

land  cessions  by  the,  25,  255,  289,  330, 

alliances  or  treaties  with  the,  25,  56,  126. 
the  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations  (later  the 

Six  Nations),  25,  48,  56,  121. 
Bacon's  war  with,  in  Virginia,  44. 
war  with  the  Canadians,  58. 
the  Quakers  and  the,  65,  126,  128. 
the  Pilgrims  and  the,  72. 
Roger  Williams  and  the,  81. 
the  New  England  Confederacy  and  the, 

83- 

Eliot's  work  among  the,  86. 
Goffe  and  the,  87. 
battle  of  Narragansett  Fort,  87. 
wars  in  North  Carolina,  121. 
Penn  and  the,  126. 
wars  in  Pennsylvania,  128. 
and  the  French,  137. 
Pontiac's  conspiracy,  152. 
massacres  by,  in  Revolution,  214. 
Wayne's  victory  over  the,  255. 
war  with  Tecumseh,  289. 
Seminole  wars,  309,  363. 
Black  Hawk  War,  349. 
Modoc  War,  544. 
Sioux  War,  544. 
French  and  Indian  War,  146. 
Indies,  trade  with,  in  fifteenth  century,  3. 
schemes  for  reaching  the,  by  sea,  4,  8. 
America  supposed  to  be  part  of  the,  7,  8. 
West,  the,  explored  by  Columbus,  7. 


Indies,  question  of  trade  with  the  West,  256, 
257,  333,  338. 

Indigo,  culture  of,  in  South  Carolina,  121. 

Inflation  Bill,  the,  vetoed,  541. 

Initiative  and  referendum,  585. 

Interstate  Commerce  Act,  557. 

Intolerable  Acts,  the  four,  186. 

Intolerance,  religious,  36,  41,  75,  79,91,  no, 
in,  114,  1 20. 

Inventions,  American.  See  cotton  gin,  251; 
"  Monitor,"  464 ;  reaper,  355, 409 ;  revolver, 
355  ;  screw  propeller,  355  ;  sewing  machine, 
394 ;  steamboat,  279  ;  steam  printing  press, 
349;  telegraph,  375;  telephone,  377,  542; 
vulcanized  rubber,  355 ;  other  inventions 
and  discoveries,  582. 

Iowa  admitted,  396. 

Iron  and  steel,  production  of,  128,  164,  581, 
582,  and  diagram  facing  582. 

Ironclads,  the,  in  the  Civil  War,  464. 

Iroquois  Indians,  25,  48,  56  (and  map,  20). 

Irrigation,  598. 

Island  Number  Ten  taken,  463. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  at  Tohopeka,  299. 

at  New  Orleans,  302. 

and  the  Seminoles,  309. 

elected  President,  335. 

administration  of,  336. 

second  election  of,  352. 
Jackson,  "  Stonewall,"  457,  467,  469,  479. 
Jamestown,  settlement  of,  34. 

colony  of,  35. 

burned  by  Bacon,  45. 
Japan,  Perry's  treaty  with,  418. 
Jasper,  Sergeant,  at  Fort  Moultric,  200. 
Jay,  John,  241. 

his  treaty  with  England,  257 .. 
Jefferson   drafts   the    Declaration  of   Inde 
pendence,  202. 

first  Secretary  of  State,  240. 

leads  the  Republicans,  246,  247. 

elected  President,  266. 

administration  of,  267. 

second  election  of,  277. 
Johnson,  Andrew,  becomes  President,  508. 

administration  of,  512. 

impeached,  but  acquitted,  523,  524. 
Johnston,  General  A.  S.,  461. 
Johnston,  General  Joseph  E.,  457,  467,  485, 

490,  495,  496,  504,  506,  518.  _  _ 
Joliet  and  Marquette's  expedition,  138. 

voyage  down  the  Mississippi,  138. 
Jones,  Paul,  99,  216. 
Judges,  the  "  midnight,"  appointed  by  John 

Adams,  266.     • 

Kansas,  struggle  for  possession  of,  414. 

elections,  415. 

Civil  War  in,  416. 

adopts  free  state  constitution,  417. 

admitted,  428. 

John  Brown  in,  415. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  409,  411. 

Essage  of,  411. 
skia,  George  Rogers  Clark  takes,  214. 
"  Kearsarge,"  the,  sinks  the  "Alabama,"  502. 
Kentucky,   first   settlement  of,   by   Boone, 
123. 
admitted,  258. 


INDEX 


xlv 


Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions,  264. 

"  Know-Nothing  "  party,  the,  407. 

Knox,  General,  199. 

Kosciusko  in  the  Revolution,  192. 

Kossuth  in  America,  406. 

"  Ku-Klux  Klan,"  the,  533- 

Labor,  Knights  of,  534- 

legislation,  507,  535,  538,  54i,  552,  581. 

strikes,  546,  556,  572. 

effect  of  women  on,  599. 

acquisition  of  rights  of,  564. 

troubles  at  Homestead,  569. 

National  Bureau  established,  552. 
Lafayette  in  the  Revolution,  193,  212,  223, 

visit  to  the  U.  S.,  324. 
Land  cessions,  227. 

cheap,  596. 
Lands,  public,  596. 

grants  to  railways,  530. 

confiscated,  513. 
La  Salle  explores  the  Mississippi,  141. 

takes  possession  of  Louisiana,  142. 
Laws  made  by  or  for  the  colonists,  39,  41. 

the  Duke's,  in  New  York,  55. 

the  Forest,  93. 

Navigation,  42,  43,  93. 

of  Trade,  42,  43. 

Fundamental,  of  Connecticut,  102. 

the  judicial,  of  Moses,  104. 

"  Body  of  Liberties,"  78. 

Toleration  in  Maryland,  109. 

against  Catholics(and  see  Catholics),  1 10. 

Test  Act,  in. 

Molasses  Act,  163. 

Sugar  Act,  115,  163. 

Stamp  Act,  123. 

Intolerable  Acts,  the,  186. 

against  Quakers  (see  Quakers),  83. 

in  the  colonies  generally,  156-176. 
Laws  of  United  States.  See  Statutes. 
Lee,  General  Charles,  in  the  Revolution, 

192,  204,  205,  213. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,  in  Congress,  201. 
Lee,  General  Robert  E.,  467-469,  471-484, 

492,  493,  5^,  5°7,  5i8. 
Leisler,  Jacob,  58,  59. 
"Leopard,"  the,   and  the   "Chesapeake," 

283. 

Letter,  Yancey's  Scarlet,  428. 
Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition,  276. 
Liberty  Laws,  Personal,  403,  436. 
Library,  the  first  free  public,  348,  612. 

growth  of  libraries,  348,  612. 
Lincoln-Douglas  campaign,  429. 
Lincoln,  election  of,  432-434. 

inaugural  speech  of,  444. 

administration  of,  443-507. 

calls  for  75,000  volunteers,  446.  _ 

scheme  of  compensated  emancipation, 
472.. 

emancipates  the  slaves,  474. 

second  election  of,  499. 

assa:  sination  of,  507. 
Literature,  colonial,  169. 

rise  of  modern  American,  348. 

influence  of  Helper's  "  Impending 
Crisis"  and  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin," 
405- 


"  Little  Belt  "  beaten  by  "  President,"  290. 
Loans,  government,  in  the  Revolution,  195. 

in  War  of  1812,  292,  293. 

in  the  Civil  War,  451,  452. 

in  war  with  Spain,  590. 
Loans  repudiated  by  some  states,  359. 

Confederate  government,  452. 
Locomotive,  Stephenson's,  346. 

Cooper's,  346. 
London  Company,  the,  32. 
Louisburg  taken,  146. 
Louisiana,  origin  of  the  name,  141. 

purchase  of,  272-275. 

explored  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  276. 

admitted,  307. 

progress  since  the  Civil  War,  554. 
Lyon,  General  N.,  in  Missouri,  460. 

Macdonough's  victory,  297. 

Machinery,  American  labor-saving,  408,  542, 

580,  582,  610.    See  Inventions. 
Macon  Act,  the,  288. 
Madison  elected  President,  287. 

administration  of,  287. 

second  election  of,  295. 

See  Slavery  and  Secession. 
Magellan  names  the  Pacific,  14. 

voyage  of  (1519-1521),  n,  14- 
Maine  liquor  law,  the,  332. 

settlement  of,  95. 

admitted,  318. 

"  Maine,"  destruction  of  the,  588. 
Manufacture  of  power,  the,  610,  611. 
Manufactures,  164,  250,  251,  286,  305,  306, 

333,  394,  449,542,  568,  573,  580,  582. 
Maps  in  the  text  : 

i    Early  trade  routes  to  the  Indies,  3. 
2.  The  Pope's  division  of  the  world,  7. 
3!  Land  discovered  by  the  Cabots,  9. 

4.  St.  Die,  France,  11. 

5.  Map  of  1515  showing  the  name  Amer 

ica,  12. 

6.  Exploring  expeditions  of  De  Soto  and 

Coronado,  16. 

7.  Grants  in  Virginia  (1606),  33. 

8.  Sea  to  sea  charters  (1609"*,  35. 

9.  Part  of  New  Netherland,  51. 

10.  Dominion  of  New  England,  56. 

11.  Fort  Stanwix  treaty  line  (1768),  61. 

12.  New  Jersey  (1617),  63. 

13  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  emigration,  69. 

14.  Part  of  New  England  (1620-1630),  71. 

15  Massachusetts  (1630),  76. 

16.  King  Philip's  War,  87. 

17.  New  Hampshire  (1623),  94. 

18.  Connecticut  (1634),  too. 

19.  Maryland  (1634),  108. 

20.  Rhode  Island  (1636),  112. 

21.  Delaware  (1638),  116. 

22.  North  and  South  Carolina  (1663),  118. 

23.  Settlement    of    Tennessee    and    Ken 

tucky,  122. 

24.  Pennsylvania  (1681),  124. 

25.  Georgia  (1733),  131- 

26.  Braddock's  march,  149. 

27.  Siege  of  Quebec,  151. 

28.  America  after  Treaty  OJL  1763,  153. 

29.  Boston  and  vicinity  (1775),  19°- 

30.  The  United  States  (1790-1800),  249. 

31.  The  Louisiana  Purchase,  272. 


xlvi 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Maps  in  the  text : 

32.  The  Florida  Purchase,  311. 

33.  The  Missouri  Compromise  Act,  316. 

34.  Annexation  of  Texas,  375. 

35.  The  Oregon  Country,  381. 

36.  Mexican  cessions  (1848,  1853),  388. 

37.  Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition,  Oregon 

and  California,  392. 

38.  Kansas  and  Nebraska  Act,  412. 

39.  Charleston  Harbor  (i860,  442. 

40.  First  advance  on     Richmond    (1861), 

457- 

41.  Campaign  in  the  West  (1862),  462. 

42.  Battles  around  Richmond  (1862),  468. 

43.  Battle  of  Gettysburg  (1863),  480. 

44.  Country  around  Vicksburg  (1863),  486. 

45.  Campaign  in  Virginia  (1864),  492. 

46.  Sherman's  march  (1864-1865),  500. 

47.  First  Pacific  Railway,  530. 

48.  Battles  near  Santiago  (1898),  592. 
Marion,  General,  220. 
Marquette's  explorations,  138. 

voyage  down  the  Mississippi,  138. 
Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  266,  564. 
Maryland  settled  by  Catholics,  107. 

George  Calvert,  107. 

charter,  107. 

laws,  107. 

political  and  religious  liberty  in,  108. 

toleration,  109. 

Claybprne,  109. 

Captain  Ingle,  109. 

Catholics  deprived  of  rights,  1 10. 

becomes  a  royal  province,  in. 

Church  of  England,  in. 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  130. 
Mason  and  Gorges,  94,  95. 
Mason  and  Slidell,  capture  of,  460. 
Massachusetts  (Plymouth)  settled,  71. 

Puritans  and  Separatists,  67,  68. 

Separatists  escape  to  Holland,  68. 

Pilgrims  and  Indians,  72. 

Pilgrim  Republic,  72. 

freedom  of  worship,  73. 

government,  72,  73. 

"  merchant  adventurers,"  70,  73. 

Myles  Standish,  74. 

united  with  Massachusetts,  74. 

(Bay  Colony),  settlement  of,  74. 

the    Puritan  emigration   to   New  Eng 
land,  75. 

John  Endicott,  75. 

charter  of,  75. 

John  Winthrop,  76. 

settlement  of  Boston  (1630),  76. 

Puritan  church,  76. 

Puritan  rule  in,  76,  77. 

suffrage  in,  77. 

establishment  of  House  of  Representa 
tives  (1634),  78.  _ 

resistance  to  the  king,  79. 

Roger  Williams,  80,  81. 

Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  81. 

education  in  colony,  82. 

Boston  Latin  School  (1635),  82. 

Harvard  College  (1636),  82. 

public  schools  (1647),  82. 

New  Fngland  Confederacy  (1643),  83. 

George  Fox,  83. 

Quaker  missionaries  in,  84,  85. 


Massachusetts,  Eliot's  work  among  the  In. 
dians,  86. 

King  Philip's  War,  86-88. 

the  charter,  88,  89. 

the  new  charter,  91. 

Salem  witchcraft,  91,  92. 
Forest  Laws,  93. 

Navigation  Laws  revived,  93. 
Massasoit,  treaty  with  Governor  Carver,  72. 
Maximilian  in  Mexico,  528. 
"  Mayflower,"  sailing  of  the,  71. 
McClellan,  General  G.  B.,  456. 

made  general  commander,  458. 

drills  the  army,  458. 

campaigns  of,  466-470. 
McCormick  reaper,  the,  355. 
McDowell,  General  I.,  456. 
McKinley,    William,    President,    578,    579, 

603,  605,  606,  607. 
Meade,  General  G.  G.,  480. 
Menendez  in  Florida,  17,  18. 
"  Merrimac,"   the,  destroys  the  "Cumber 
land  "  and  the  "Congress,"  464. 

and  the  "  Monitor,",  464. 
Mexican  War,  the,  382. 

results  of,  388,  389. 

See  Battles. 

Michigan  admitted,  356. 
"  Midnight  judges,"  the,  266. 
Millerites,  the,  or  Second  Adventists,  360. 
Minnesota  admitted,  428. 
Mint,  United  States,  established,  246. 
Minuit,  Governor,  of  New  Netherland,  50. 
Minutemen,  the,  of  Revolution.  189. 
Mississippi  discovered  by  De  Soto,  15. 

explored  by  the  French,  137. 

voyage  by  Joliet  and  Marquette,  138. 

La  Salle  explores,  141. 

Company,  142. 

free  navigation  of,  232,  258,  273. 

opening  of,  in  the  Civil  War,  488. 

deepening  the  mouth  of,  549. 
Mississippi,  state  of,  admitted,  313. 
Missouri  Compromise,  the  first,  317. 

Jefferson's  and  John   Quincy    Adams' 
opinions  of,  318. 

the  second,  318. 

Compromise  violated,  319. 

admission  of  the  state,  318. 

Compromise  repealed,  410,  412,  413. 
Mobile  founded  (1702),  142. 

Farragut  enters  harbor  of,  502. 
Modoc  War,  the,  544. 
Molasses  Act,  163. 
Money,  Indian  wampum,  22. 

tobacco  used  for,  37. 

corn  and  cattle  used  for,  165. 

colonial  coin,  .65. 

colonial  paper,  165. 

paper,  of  Revolution,  195. 

just  after  the  Revolution,  231. 

decimal  system  of  coinage,  246. 

whisky  used  for,  254. 

of  state  banks  worthless,  353. 

in  the  Civil  War,  451,  452. 

See  U.  S.  Bank. 

of  national  banks,  452. 

silver  demonetized,  538. 

silver  remonetized,  547. 

Bland- Allison  Silver  Act,  546. 


INDEX 


xlvii 


Money,  resumption  of  specie  payments,  548. 

the  Sherman  Silver  Act,  565. 

repeal  of  Sherman  Silver  Act,  572. 

demand  for  free  silver,  578. 

See  Dollar  and  Silver. 

"  Monitor,"  the,  and  the  "  Merrimac,"  463. 
Monroe  Doctrine,  the,  322. 
Monroe  elected  President,  307 

administration  of,  308. 
Montana  admitted,  561. 
Montgomery's  expedition  against  Montreal 

and  Quebec,  199. 

Morgan,  General  Daniel,  211,  220,  221. 
Mormons,  rise  of  the,  360. 

emigrate  to  Utah,  362. 

rebellion  of  the,  427. 

Edmunds  Anti-Polygamy  Act,  552. 

Edmunds-Tucker  Act,  557. 

Church  of,  -vs.  Supreme  Court,  569. 

renounce  polygamy,  569. 
Morris,  Robert,  what  he  did  for  Washing 
ton,  206,  224. 
Morristown,    Washington's   terrible   winter 

at,  219. 

Morse's  electric  telegraph,  375. 
Morton,  Dr.,  discovers  etherization,  395. 
Moultrie,  Fort,  200. 
Municipal  ownership,  613. 
Murfreesboro,  battle  of,  478. 

Napoleon,  Decrees  of,  282. 
Narvaez,  expedition  of,  14. 
Nashville,  battle  of,  501. 
National  banks  established,  452. 
National  Road,  the,  278,  320. 
Natural  gas,  427. 
Naturalization  Act  of  1798,  262. 
Navigation  Laws,  42. 

revived,  93. 
Navy,  first  American,  193. 

increase  of,  261. 

in  1812,  292  ;  (1861-1865),  508. 

our  new,  559,  590. 
Nebraska  admitted,  521. 
Negro  slavery,  introduction  of,  37,  39,  40. 

unhappy  state  of  the  free  (1827),  340. 

insurrection  in  Virginia,  341. 

suffrage  in   the    District   of   Columbia, 
521. 

slaves  emancipated,  474. 

troops  in  the  Civil  War,  475,  476. 

See  Slavery. 

Negro,  the,  and  reconstruction,  513-516,  517, 
519,  521,528,529,  532. 

becomes  a  lawmaker,  522,  532. 

in  Congress,  532. 

the,  and  the  amendments  to  the  Consti 
tution,  518,  519,  521,  528,  529,  532. 

and  the  "  Ku-Klux  Klan,"  533. 

and  the  "  Carpetbaggers,"  532. 

progress  of,  since  the  war,  575. 

See  Freedmen  and  Slavery. 
Neutrality,  proclamation  of,  253. 
Nevada,  discovery  of  silver  in,  426. 

admitted,  497. 

New  Amsterdam  (New  York),  50. 
New  England  Confederacy,  origin  of  name, 

83- 

Newfoundland    cod     fisheries.      See    Cod 
fisheries. 


New  Hampshire,  settlement  of,  94. 

Gorges  and  Mason,  94,  95. 

religious  opinions,  95. 

becomes  a  royal  province,  97. 

Londonderry  settled  (1719),  97. 

manufacture  of  linen,  97. 

Dartmouth  College,  98. 

dispute  between  New  York  and,  98. 

and  Vermont,  98. 

Paul  Jones,  99. 

New  Haven,  the  republic  of,  103. 
New  Jersey,  the  Dutch  claim,  63. 

the  English  take  possession  of,  63. 

the  name,  63. 

Elizabethtown  founded  (1665),  64. 

Quakers  in,  64,  65. 

William  Penn  in,  64. 

government  of,  64,  65. 

religion  of,  65. 

Andros  in,  65. 

Witherspoon,  66. 
New  Mexico,  conquest  of,  388. 
New  Netherland  (New  York),  47. 
New  Orleans  founded  (1718),  144. 

battle  of  (1815),  302. 

taken  by  Farragut,  465. 

Exposition  (1884),  553. 

Newspaper,  the  first,  published  in  America, 
1 68. 

party  journals  in  1792-1794,  247. 

first  cheap,  in  America,  348. 

the  modem  sensational,  349. 
New  York,  settlement  of,  by  the  Dutch,  48. 

patroon  system  of,  50. 

treatment  of  Quakers  in,  54. 

England  takes,  54. 

the  "  Duke's  Laws,"  55. 

Governor  Andros  and,  56. 

French  attack,  57,  5cS. 

treatment  of  Catholics  in,  59. 

freedom  of  the  press  in,  60. 

protests  against  taxation  without  consent 
of  the  Assembly,  179. 

contest  of  people  with  the  colonial  gov 
ernors,  61. 

in  the  Revolution,   182,   183,   194,   198, 

202,  203,  210,  211. 

"  Greater  New  York,"  583. 
Non-Enumerated  Articles,  163. 
Non-Intercourse  Act,  286. 
North  Carolina,  colony  of,  established,  120. 
North  Dakota  admitted,  561. 
Northmen,  discovery  of  America  by  the,  i. 

the,  and  American  history,  2. 
Northwest  Territory,  cession  of,  227. 

ordinance  for  government  of,  227. 
Nullification  in  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  264. 

in  South  Carolina,  344,  345. 

Calhoun  defends,  346. 

in  Georgia,  331,  345. 

Jackson  upholds  Georgia  in,  345. 

in  various  states,  265. 

in  political  platforms,  265,  312. 

and  Hartford  Convention,  300. 

feared  by  Madison,  343. 

Office,  restrictions  of  candidates  for,  563. 
Oglethorpe  colonizes  Georgia,  131. 

and  the  Spaniards,  135. 
Ohio  Company,  the,  249. 


xlviii        THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


Ohio,  first  settlement  of,  249. 

opened,  255. 

admitted  to  the  Union,  271. 
Oil,  petroleum,  discovered,  427. 
Oklahoma,  opening  of,  561. 
"Omnibus  Bill,"  the,  401. 
Onate's  expedition,  17. 
Orders  in  Council,  British,  282. 
Ordinance    for   government   of  the   North 
west  Territory  (1787),  227. 
Oregon,  how  we  got,  250,  277,  304,  310,  379. 

admitted,  428. 
Osceola,  363. 

Ostend  Manifesto,  the,  419. 
Otis,  James,  179,  180,  183. 

Pacific,  named  by  Magellan,  14. 

coast  explored  by  Spaniards,  14. 
Balboa  discovers  the,  14. 
search  for  the,  by  the  colonists,  34. 
territory  acquired  on  the,  388,  389. 
railway  completed,  529. 
effects  of,  530,  531. 
cable,  608. 

Paine's  "  Common  Sense,"  201. 
Panama  Canal,  the,  602,  608. 
Panama  Canal  Purchase  Act,  608. 
Pan-American  Congress,  561. 

Exposition,  606. 

Panics,  business  and  financial,  of  1818-1819, 
310-311. 

'837,  356-370. 
1857,  425- 
1873,  540,  541. 
i884,553. 
1893,  57i. 

Paper  money  (see  Money),  231,451,  452. 
Pardon  granted  to  Confederates,   514,  518, 
521,  525,  S34- 

granted  to  Mormons,  569. 
Paris,  Declaration  of,  (1856),  304. 
,"  Parsons  Case"  (1767),  179. 
Parties,  political,  rise  of  (1792),  246. 

in  general,  236,  246,  252,  258,  266,  267, 
268,  277,  287,  295,  305,  319,  325,  331, 
335.  352,  356»  366,  373,  374,  395,  406, 
407,  413,  419,  420,  432,  433,  498,  524, 
533,  537,  S38,  54i,  542,  543,  549,  553, 
559.  569,  570,  578,  603. 
American,  or  "  Know-Nothing,"  407, 

419. 

"Anti-Dorrites,"  369. 
Anti-Federalist,  236,  246. 
Anti-Masonic,  332. 
Anti-Monopolist  (note),  543. 
Anti-Renters,  369. 
"  Barn-burners,"  396. 
"  Bell-Everett,"  433. 
"  Black  Republicans,"  415. 
"  Blue  Light  Federalists,"  299. 
"  Broad  Gaugers  "  (note),  537. 
Constitutional  Union,  432. 
"  Copperheads,"  453,  469,  470,  480. 
Democratic,  246,  331,  352,  356. 
Democratic-Republican,   246,  252,  258, 

266,  308,  325,  327. 
"  Dorrites,"  369. 

"  Farmers'  Alliance,"  541. 

Federalist,  234,  236,  246,  252,  258,  266, 

267,  268. 


Parties,  Free  Soil,  396,  406. 
_    Free  Suffrage,  369. 
Free  State,  414. 

"  Gold  Democrats,"  578. 

"  Grangers,"  541. 

"  Greenback,"  542. 

"  Half-Breeds  "  (note),  549. 
"  Hunkers,"  396. 

Independent,  542. 

Independent  Republicans,  553. 

"  Know-Nothing,"  407,  419. 

Labor,  537,  612. 

Labor  Reform,  537. 

Liberal  Republicans,  537. 

Liberty,  366,  373,  396. 

"  Locofocos,"  356. 

"  Mugwumps  "  (note),  553. 

National  Democrats,  578. 

National  Republicans,  246,  331,  352. 

"  Peace  Democrats,"  49*8! 

People's  Party,  570,  578. 

"  Populists,"  541,  578. 

Prohibitionist,  537. 

"  Quids,"  286. 

Radical  Republicans,  498. 

Reform  Democrats,  356. 

Republican  (first),  246. 

Republican  (second),  246,  414. 

Socialist,  612. 

Socialist  Labor,  612. 

"  Sons  of  the  South,"  414. 

"  Stalwarts  "  (note),  549. 

"  Straight-Out  Democrats,"  537. 

"War  Democrats,"  498,  513. 

Whig,  246,  331,  356,  407 

See  too  Election  and  Platform. 
Patent  Office  Centennial,  568. 
Patroons,  the,  50. 
Peace  party,  the,  in  the  Civil  War,  453,  469, 

470,  480. 

Pemberton,  General  J.  C.,at  Vicksburg.  486. 
Penn,  William,  64. 

purchases  Delaware,  117. 

Pennsylvania  granted  to,  124. 

treaty  with  the  Indians,  126. 
Pennsylvania,  grant  of,  to  Penn,  124. 

charter  of,  125. 

"  Frame  of  Government,"  125. 

"  Great  Law,"  126. 

Philadelphia  founded  (1682),  126. 

treaty  with  the  Indians,  126. 

growth  of  Philadelphia,  127. 

Quakers  in,  127,  128. 

iron  and  coal  mines  in,  127. 

"  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line,"  130. 
Pensions,  Dependent,  Bill  vetoed,  558. 

passed,  565  (see  too  510). 
Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  296. 

Commodore,  treaty  with  Japan,  418. 
Personal  Liberty  Laws,  403,  436. 
Petersburg,  siege  of,  493. 

surrender  of,  506. 

Petroleum  discovered  in  Pennsylvania,  427. 
Philadelphia  founded,  126. 
Philippines  annexed,  593,  594. 

the,  in  igor,  603,  604. 

the  Supreme  Court  and  the,  605. 
Philip's,  King,  War,  86-88. 
Pierce  elected  President,  406. 

administration  of,  408-421. 


INDEX 


xlix 


Pilgrims,  or  Separatists,  the,  67-69. 
leave  England  for  Holland,  68. 
sail  for  America,  70,  71. 
reasons  for  emigrating  to  America,  68, 

69. 

draw  up  a  compact,  71. 
settle  at  Plymouth,  71. 
and  the  Indians,  72. 
mode  of  government,  72,  73. 
Pitt,  William  (Lord  Chatham),  151. 

management  of  the  French  and  Indian 

War,  151. 
defends  the  resistance  of  the  colonists, 

182. 

Pittsburg,  origin  of  name  of,  151. 
Platform,  first  presidential,  352. 

See  too  Election. 
Plymouth  Colony  founded,  71. 

absorbed  by  Massachusetts,  74. 
See  Pilgrims. 

Plymouth  Company  chartered,  31,  32. 
"  Pocket  vetoes,"  3515. 
Political  corruption  in  1876,  540. 
Political  Disabilities  Act,  534. 
Polk  elected  President,  374. 

administration  of,  378-397. 
Polygamy,  Mormon,  361. 

the  Edmunds  Act  against,  552. 

the  Edmunds-Tucker  Act  against,  557 

condemned  by  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court 

569. 

renounced  by  the  Mormons,  569. 
Ponce  de  Leon  and  Florida,  13. 
Pontiac's  conspiracy,  152. 
Pony  express  to  California,  529. 
Pope,  General  John,  463,  468,  469. 
Pope,  the  division  of  the  world  by  the    7 

the,  and  the  Civil  War,  454. 
Popham  Colony,  Maine,  95. 
"  Popular  Sovereignty"  proposed  bv  Clay, 
363- 

advocated  by  Cass,  397. 
ridiculed  by  Calhoun,  397. 
advocated  by  Douglas,  397,  429,  430. 
m  Clay  s  Compromise  Measures,  309. 
applied  to  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  409 
to  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  410-414. 
extreme  Southern  men  oppose,  411. 
Republican  party  condemn,  420. 
Population  in  1763,  156. 
1775,  192  ;  1900,  603. 
1790,  248. 
1800,  268. 
1860,  449. 
"8.9°»  567- 

no  frontier  line  of,  567. 
"  Populists,"  the,  in  politics,  570 
Port  Hudson  taken,  488. 
Porter,   Admiral  D.  D.,  at  New  Orleans 
466. 

at  Vicksburg,  485. 
at  Fort  Fisher,  503. 
at  City  Point,  505. 
Porto  Rican  Government  Act,  601. 
1  orto  Rico  annexed,  593. 
Portsmouth,  N.H.,  settled,  94. 
Postage  in  colonial  times,  166. 
cheap  (1845-1883),  389. 
stamps  introduced  (1847),  389. 
postal  cards  introduced,  539. 


Potato,  discovery  of  the,  20. 
Power,  growth  of  productive,  580. 

the  manufacture  of,  610-611. 
Presidential  Succession  Act,  557. 
Press,  freedom  of  the,  restricted  in  the  col 
onies,  168. 

established  by  Zenger,  60,  168. 
defined  by  Judge  McKean,  263. 
vs.  the  Sedition  Act,  263,  264. 
"  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,"  4. 
Printing  press,  the,  in  the  colonies,  60,  127, 
168. 

Hoe's  steam  cylinder,  349. 
Prisoners  of  War  of  the  Revolution,  477 

of  the  Civil  War,  476. 
Privateers  in  the  Revolution,  193. 
in  the  War  of  1812,  295. 
Confederate,  in  the  Civil  War,  451. 
and  Declaration  of  Paris,  304. 
Proclamation  Line,  154. 
Progress  of  the  United  States  (1789-1889), 
562-565. 
illustrated  by  the  manufacture  of  power, 

610-611. 

General  survey  of,  612. 
Prohibition  in  Maine  and  other  states,  332. 
Providence  settled,  112. 
Public  Credit  Act,  529. 
Public  schools  established  in  the  colonies, 

82,  104,  171. 

Puritans,  origin  of  the,  67. 
vs.  Separatists,  68. 
emigration  to  New  England,  75. 
religious  ideas  of  the,  67. 
the,  settle  Massachusetts,  75. 
their  colony,  75. 
mode  of  government,  76,  77. 
the  "  freeman's  "  oath,  77. 
purpose  of  the,  79. 
in  Maryland,  108,  109. 
Putnam,  General  Israel,  190,  197,  203 
General  Rufus,  200. 

Quakers.    See  Friends. 
Quebec,  the  French  at,  41,  137. 

Phips'  expedition  against,  145. 

expedition  of  1711  against,  i4«. 

taken  by  Wolfe,  151 

Montgomery's  expedition  against,  199. 

Arnold's  expedition  against,  199 
Quebec  Act,  the,  186. 
"  Quids,"  the,  286. 

Railway,  the  first  in  America,  346. 
effects  of,  347,  379,  596. 
destruction  of,  in  the  Civil  War,  500. 
the  first  transcontinental,  529. 


347 


effects  of,  530,  5~3i7596/" 

mileage  of,  and  capital  invested  in, 

electric,  378. 
Raleigh  sends  expedition  to  America,  19. 

attempts  to  colonize,  20. 

what  he  accomplished,  20. 
Reaper,  the,  and  the  mower,  355    409 
Reconstruction  begun,  513,  5^. 

Johnson's  plan  of,  515. 

Congress'  plan  of,  515,  516 

Act,  522. 

Congress  and  the  President,  515,  Si6, 
521,  522. 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


Reconstruction  completed,  531. 
Redemption ers,  i(>2. 
Referendum  in  South  Dakota,  585. 
Regicides,  the,  104. 
Religion,  great  revival  of,  170. 
Religious  liberty  for  all  persons  in  Rhode 
Island,  114. 

for  nil  Christians  in  Maryland,  109. 

for  all  believers  in  God  in  Pennsylvania, 
126. 

Congress  not  to  interfere  with,  242. 

not  recognized  by  the  Puritans,  75,  79, 83. 

degrees   of,  in   the   colonies  generally, 
167,  168. 

America  first  to  establish  complete,  114, 

612. 
Kemonetization  of  silver.    See   Dollar   and 

Silver. 

Removals  from  office,  Jackson's,  336. 
Republican  party,  first  of  that  name,  246. 

modern,  origin  of,  414. 

See  Parties. 

Resolutions  by  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  264. 
Resumption   of    specie   payment,   541,    542, 

54^. 
Revenue  of  the  United  States,  1790  vs.  1897, 

241. 

Rcvere's,  Paul,  ride,  187,  189. 
Review,  grand  military,  at  the  close  of  the 

Civil  War,  516. 
Revolution,  indications  of  the  coming,  174. 

chief  cause  of  the,  178. 

"Writs  of  Assistance,"  179. 

Stamp  Act,  180. 

Patrick  Henry's  resolutions,  181. 

Stamp  Act  Congress,  181. 

"  Sons  of  Liberty,"  182. 

Pitt  defends  the  colonies,  182. 

the  Townshend  Law,  182. 

"  I'oston  Massacre,"  183. 

Governor  Tryon,  184. 

destruction  of  the  "  Gaspee,"  184. 

Committees  of  Correspondence  formed, 
184. 

tax  on  tea,  185. 

Boston  "  Tea  Party,"  the,  185. 

"  four  intolerable  acts,"  186. 

unity  of  the  colonies,  187. 

First  Continental  Congress,  187. 

Parliament  retaliates,  188. 

action  of  Massachusetts,  189. 

General  Gage's  expedition,  189. 

battles  of.    See  Battles. 

Second  Continental  Congress,  191. 

Gage's  proclamation,  iqi. 

Washington  made  commander  in  chief, 
191. 

opposing  armies  in,  191,  192. 

American  navy  and  privateers,  193. 

foreign  aid  in  the,  192,  193. 

Loyalists,  or  Tories,  194. 

finances  of  the,  195-197. 

Washington  takes  command,  198. 

expedition  against  Canada,  199. 

Arnold's  expedition,  199. 

Paine's  "  Common  Sense,"  201. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  201. 

Howe  offers  pardon  to  "  rebels,"  203. 

Washington  driven  out  of   New  York, 
204. 


Revolution,  retreat  across  New  Jersey,  205 

Robert  Morris  in  the,  206. 

plans  of  Lord  Germain,  207. 

Burgoyne's  expedition,  208-211. 

treaties  with  France,  211,212. 

England    sends    peace    commissioners, 
213. 

Lee's  treachery,  213. 

prospects  of  the  (1778),  214. 

expedition  of  George  Rogers  Clark,  214. 

Captain  Paul  Jones,  216. 

Arnold's  treason,  218. 

Greene,  General,  takes  command  in  the 
South,  220. 

Women  of  the,  221. 

retreat  of  Cornwallis,  222. 

Cornwallis  ravages  Virginia,  223. 

Cornwallis  retires  to  Yorktown,  223. 

fall  of  Yorktown,  224. 

effect  in  England,  225. 

peace  declared,  225. 
Revolver,  Colt's,  355. 
Rhode  Island,  settlement  of,  112. 

government  of,  113. 

charter  of,  1 14. 

entire  religious  liberty  in,  114. 

spirit  of  independence  in,  115. 
Ribaut,  Jean,  17,  18. 

Rice,  cultivation  of,  in  South  Carolina,  121. 
Richmond,  the  Confederate  capital,  506. 

capture  of,  508. 
Right  of  search.     See  Search. 
"  Ring,  Boss  Tweed,"  the,  540. 

the  Whisky,  540. 

the  Erie,  540. 
Riots,  draft,  in  the  Civil  War,  480. 

strike  at  Pittsburg,  546. 

strike  at  Chicago,  556,  573. 
Road,  the  Cumberland,  or  National,  327, 329. 
Roads,  colonial,  165. 
Rolfe,  John,  36. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  603,  606. 

elected  Vice  President,  603. 

becomes  President,  606. 

elected  President,  611. 
Rosecrans,  General  W.  S.,  477,  489. 
"Rule  of  1756,"  281. 

St.  Augustine  founded  (1565),  18. 
St.  Louis   included    in    the   Louisiana  pur 
chase,  274,  276,  315. 

growth  of,  609. 

Exposition,  609. 
Salem,  Mass.,  settled,  75. 

witchcraft,  91,  92. 
Samoan  Islands,  600. 

San  Domingo,  attempt  to  annex,  535,  536. 
Sanitary  Commission  in  the  Civil  War,  454. 
Santa  Fe  founded  (1605),  17. 
Savannah  settled,  133. 

taken  by  the  British,  216. 

taken  by  Sherman,  501. 
"  Savannah,"  the,  first  ocean  steamship,  312. 
Schenectady  attacked  by  savages,  58. 
School  lands,  271,  272,  330. 
Schools,  public,  in  Massachusetts,  82. 

Boston  Latin  School,  82. 

established  in  Connecticut,  104. 

established  in  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
and  Pennsylvania,  171. 


INDEX 


li 


School,  Governor  Berkeley  on,  in  Virginia, 
171. 

at  the  South,  171,  575. 

in  the  West,  330. 

See  Public  Schools  and  Education. 
Schuyler,  General  P.,  199,  208,  210. 
Scotch-Irish  emigrants,  46,  97,  157. 
Scott,  General  W.,  in  War  of  1812,  292,  298. 

in  the  war  with  Mexico,  383-386. 

in  the  Civil  War,  445,  455,  456- 

retires,  458. 
Search,  right  of,  claimed  by  England,  282, 

290,  291,  303,  304. 
Secession  or  disunion,  fears  of  (1783-1787), 

23O. 

threats  of,  in  the  Southwest  (1787),  233. 
fears  of  disunion  in  1792,  251. 
Washington's  farewell  address  on  (1790), 

258. 
the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions 

(1798-1799).  2(M- 
fears  of,  in  1800,  270. 
Ames  and  Jefferson  on,  270. 
looked  on  as  probable,  279. 
plot  of  ultra  northern  Federalists  (1803), 

Burr's  conspiracy  (1804),  280. 

feared  by  John  Quincy  Adams  (1809), 

286. 

threatened  by  Quincy  (i8ii),  275. 
the     Hartford  Convention    accused    of 

plot  of  (1814),  301. 
the  "Richmond  Enquirer"  condemns  as 

treason  (1814),  301. 

the  South  threatens,  in  1819,  316,  318. 
Webster  on  danger  of,  in  1828,  335- 
Hayne  defends  the  right  of  (,1830),  338. 
Webster  denies  the  right  of  (1830),  339. 
Calhoun  declares  "  Liberty  dearer  than 

Union"  (1830),  339. 
Jackson   stands   by  the   Union    (1830), 

threatened  by  South  Carolina  (1832),  345. 
feared  by  John  Quincy  Adams  (i833),343- 
feared  by  Madison  (1833),  343- 
Jackson's   attitude   toward  (1833),    344, 

Jackson  predicts  (1833),  346. 
advocated   by   Garrison's    "Liberator 

(1843),  343- 

annexation  of  Texas  (1843),  371. 
fears  of,  in  1844,  372. 
foreshadowed  by  split  in  the  churches 

(1845),  400^ 

agitation  of,  in  1846,  390,  391. 
threatened    by    southern    members    of 

Congress  in  1849,  398. 
Calhoun  on,  in  1850,  400. 
Webster  on,  in  1850,  400,  401. 
tlneatened,  in  1854,  412,  413. 
Rufus  Choate  on,  in  1856,  420. 
Governor  Wise  on,  in  1856,  420. 
threatened  by  the  South  in  1857,  424. 
foreshadowed    by    Yancey's     "  Scarlet 

Letter"  (1858),  428. 
Lincoln  on  (1858),  429. 
effect  of  the  John  Brown  raid  on  (1859), 

predicted   by    Alexander   H.    Stephens 
(iS6o),  432. 


Secession  or  disunion,  South  Carolina  pre 
pares  to  secede  (1860).  434- 

Alexander  H.  Stephens  protests  against 

Pollard   on   action    of    South   Carolina 

(1860),  435. 

South  Carolina  secedes  (1860),  436. 
reasons  for  (1860),  436,  437. 
Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  and   Texas   secede   (1860- 
1861),  437. 

Mississippi  on  the  object  of  (1861),  437. 
why  Georgia  seceded  (1861),  437. 
slavery  the  true  cause  of,  439. 
the  war  of,  begun  (1861),  446. 
secession  of  Virginia,  Arkansas,  North 

Carolina,  and  Tennessee  (1861;,  44^. 
mistakes  of  the  secessionists,  44*. 
object  of  the  war,  455. 
the  principle  of,  destroyed,  511. 
the  New  South  and,  518. 
Seditibn  Law,  the,  263. 
Seminole  War,  first,  309. 

second, 363. 

Separatists,  the,  or  Pilgrims  vs.  the  Puri 
tans,  68. 

escape  to  Holland,  68. 
why  they  wished  to  emigrate  to  Amer 
ica,  68'. 

they  emigrate  and  settle  Plymouth  ,70,71. 
See  Pilgrims. 
Sevier,  John,  123. 
Seward,  William  H.,  399,  4™,  4".  4l8»  424. 

443,  445,  461,  471,  516. 
Sewing  machine  invented,  394. 
Shays'  Rebellion,  232. 
Shenandoah  Valley,  Jackson  in,  469. 

Sheridan's  raid  in,  494. 

Sheridan,  General  P.  H.,  raid  in  the  Shenan 
doah  Valley,  494. 

ride  to  Cedar  Creek,  495. 
at  battle  of  Winchester,  495. 
cuts  off  supplies  from  Richmond,  506. 
Sherman,  General  W.  T.,  at  Pittsburg  Land 
ing,  463. 

at  Vicksburg,  478. 
at  Chattanooga,  489. 
raid  on  Meridian,  490. 
in  the  "  hammering  campaign,"  491. 
advance  of,  on  Atlanta,  495- 
takes  Atlanta,  496. 
march  to  the  sea,  499. 
takes  Savannah,  501. 
march  northward,  503. 
surrender  of  Johnston  to,  507. 
Silver,  scarcity  of,  in  1786,  231. 
first  coinage  of,  246. 
found  in  Nevada  and  Colorado,  42^,. 
demonetized,  538. 
remonetized,  547. 
Bland- Allison  Act,  547. 
the  Sherman  Silver  Act,  565. 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Act,  572. 
demand  for  free,  578. 
See  Dollar  and  Coinage. 
Six  Nations,  or  Iroquois.    See  Indians. 
Slavery  introduced  into  America,  39. 
spreads  into  all  the  colonies,  39. 
attempts  to  check  importation  of  slaves, 
40. 


lii 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Slavery,  remonstrance  of  Quakers  against,  in 
1688,  127. 
Washington,    Jefferson,    and    Franklin 

on,  40,  162. 

Wesley  and  Whitefield  on,  134. 
introduced  into  Georgia,  135. 
in  the  colonies,  effects  of,  161,  162. 
excluded  from  the  Northwest  Territory 

(1787),  3IS- 
debate  in  the  Constitutional  Convention 

on,  234,  235,  236. 

first  Congressional  debate  on,  248. 
importation   of  slaves   prohibited,   248, 

251,313- 

effects  of  the  cotton  gin  on,  251. 
extension  of,  opposed,  275. 
effect  of  purchase  of  Louisiana  on,  275. 
discussion  of  the  western  extension  of, 

312,  313- 

Judge  Story,  on  the  slave  trade,  313. 
how  it  divided  the  country,  313. 
a  menace  to  the  Union,  313,  318,  343. 
Benton  on  the  extension  of,  315. 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  317-319. 
Clay  and  Channing  on,  340,  341. 
Garrison  attacks,  341. 
the  Nat  Turner  insurrection,  341. 
Clay  and  Calhoun  defend,  343. 
J.  Q.  Adams  on,  343. 
Emerson  and  Seward  on,  343,  344. 
formation  of  Abolition  societies,  342 
it  endangers  the  Union,  343. 
Jackson  on,  345. 

Petitions  against,  in  Congress,  355. 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  357. 
Case  of  Prigg  vs.  Pennsylvania,  371. 
agitation  in  Congress,  362. 
and  the  "  gag  rule  "   in   Congress,  355, 

362. 

and  the  annexation  of  Texas,  371-374. 
and  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  390,  391. 
Calhoun  on,  363,  390. 
the  question  of,  in  1850,  399,  402. 
the  fugitive-slave  law  of  1793,  248. 
decision  of  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  respect 
ing,  371- 

Van  Buren  on,  357. 
the  new  fugitive-slave  law  (1850),  402, 

local  and  accidental,  315. 

no  interference  with,  357. 

Personal  Liberty  Laws  vs.,  403. 

enforcement  of,  403,  404. 

enforcement  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act, 

404. 

the  "  Underground  Railroad,"  404. 
slaves  rescued,  248,  404,  405. 
slaves  returned  to,  404. 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  405. 
Helper's  "  Impending  Crisis,"  405. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  409-414. 
struggle  in  Kansas  over,  414-418. 
Sumner  denounces,  417. 
assault  on  Sumner,  418. 
Republican  party  and,  420. 
Dred  Scott  decision,  421-424. 
Lincoln  and  Douglas  debates  on,  429. 
John  Brown's  raid,  430. 
the  evil  wrought  by,  440,  441. 
secession  and,  437,  441. 


Slavery  called  "  the  corner  stone  of  our  Re 
publican  edifice  "  (1835),  344. 
the  corner  stone  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy,  438. 
the  true  cause  of  the  War  of  Secession, 

439- 

Butler,     General,    and     the     "  contra 
bands,"  472. 

the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  474. 
the  constitutional  amendments  and,  518, 

520,  532. 

progress  of  the  South  since  the  aboli 
tion  of,  554,  574.  „ 
See  Abolitionists  ;  Anti-Slavery  ;  Seces 
sion  ;  the  Negro;  the  Fugitive-Slave 
Act. 

Smith,  Captain  John,  34. 
Socialism,  tendencies  to,  570,  578,  581. 
Socialistic  experiments,  360. 
"  Sons  of  Liberty,"  182,  187. 
Soto,  De.     See  De  Soto. 
South,  the,  progress  of,  since  the  Civil  War, 

South  Carolina.     See  Carolina. 

nullification  in,  344. 

secession  of,  436. 

negro  rule  in,  533. 
South  Dakota,  561,  584. 
Spain's   possessions  in  America,  7,  13,  30, 

258,  585- 
Spaniards,  the,  in  Florida,   13-18,  135,  309, 

310. 
Specie  circular,  the,  354. 

payments,  resumption  of,  538,542,  548. 
Speculation  in  land,  353,  357. 

in  railways,  540. 
Spiritualism,  rise  of,  362. 
"  Spoils  System,"  the,  337,  545,  551. 

See  Civil  Service  Reform. 
Spoliation  claims,  the  first,  261. 

the  second, 338. 
Squatter  sovereignty,  397. 
Stagecoach  to  California,  529. 
Stamp  Act,  the,  proposed,  180. 

passage  of  the  act,  181. 

the  Stamp  Act  Congress,  181. 

Pitt  on  the,  182. 

the,  repealed,  182. 
Standish,  Myles,  Captain,  71. 

goes  to  England,  74. 
"  Star  of  the  West  "  fired  on,  437. 
"  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  the  (song  of),  299. 
Stark,  General,  97. 

State  Rights  or  State  Sovereignty,  doctrine 
of,  264,  268,  338,  345,  436,  sn. 

See  Secession. 

States  admitted  (see  names  of),  577. 
Statutes,  United   States,   Tariff  Act  (1789). 
See  Tariff. 

Tonnage  Act  (1789),  241. 

National  Capital  Act  (1700),  244. 

Excise  Act  (1791),  241. 

Bank  Act  (1791),  245. 
See  Bank. 

Mint  Act  (1792),  246. 

Naturalization  Act  (1798),  262. 

Alien  Act  (1798),  262. 

Sedition  Act  (1798),  263. 

National  Road  Act  (1806),  278. 

Non-Importation  Act  (1807),  283. 


INDEX 


Statutes,  United  States,  Embargo  Act  (1807), 
284. 

Force  Act  (1809),  285. 
Non-Intercourse  Act  (1809),  286. 
Macon  Act  (1810),  288. 
Missouri  Compromise  Act  (1820"),  317. 
Crawford  Tenure  of   Office  Act  (1820), 

319- 

Force  Act  (1832),  345. 
First  Independent  Treasury  Act  (1840), 

359- 
Second      Independent      Treasury     Act 

(1846),  359- 

Compromise  Measures  Acts  (1850),  402. 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act  (1854),  411-413. 
( 'onfiscation  Act  (1861),  472. 
'Territorial  Act  (1862),  390. 
Homestead  Act  (1862),  596. 
Suspension     of     Habeas     Corpus     Act 

(1863),  453. 

National  Banks  Act  (1863),  452. 
Freedman's  Bureau  Act  (1865),  513,  519. 
Tenure  of  Office  Act  (1867),  521. 
Military  Reconstruction  Act  (1867),  522. 
Public  Credit  Act  (1869),  529. 
Force  Act  (1871),  534,  572. 
Removal   of   Political   Disabilities  Act 

('872),  534- 

Coinage  Act  (1873),  538. 
Salary  Act  (1873),  539. 
Resumption  Act  (1875),  542. 
Bland-Allison    Silver    Act   (1878),    547- 

548. 

Civil  Service  Reform  Act  (1882),  551. 
Edmunds   Anti-Polygamy    Act    (1882), 

552- 
Chinese     Exclusion     Acts    (1882-1904), 

Alien  Contract  Labor  Act  (1884),  552. 

Presidential  Succession  Act  (1886),  557. 

Electoral  Count  Act  (1887),  557. 

Interstate  Commerce  Act  (1887),  557. 

Edmunds-Tucker    Anti-Polygamy    Act 
(1887),  557- 

Dependent  Pension  Act  (1890),  558,  565. 

Sherman    Silver    Purchase    Act   (1890), 
565- 

Porto  Rican  Tariff  Act  (1900),  60 1. 

Gold  Standard  Act  (1900),  60 1. 

Irrigation  Act  (1902),  598.- 

Panama  Canal  Act  (1902),  608. 
Steamboat,  Fitch's,  279. 

Fulton's,  279. 

effects  of  the,  280. 
Steam  engine,  first,  165. 
Steamship,  the  first  ocean.  312. 

first  line  established,  365. 
Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  432,  435,  438,  5 
Steuben,  Baron,  193. 
Strike,  great  railroad,  546. 

the  Pullman,  or  Chicago,  573. 

at  Homestead,  569. 

great  coal,  607. 
Stuyvesant,  Governor,  52. 
Suffrage  in  colonial  times,  38,  44,  53,  55,  56, 
59,  72,  73,  77,  78,  79,  89,  100,  103,  113,  ij(J, 

120,    126. 

Naturalization  Act  (1798),  262. 
Australian  ballot,  560. 
manhood,  268,  271. 


Suffrage,  restriction  of,  238,  584. 

extension  of,  238,  258,  268,  271,  312,  563. 
negro,  granted,  519-521,  532. 
woman,  demanded,  391. 
woman,  granted  in  certain  states,  561. 
action  of  Southern  States  on,  584. 
Sugar  Act,  1 15. 
Sumner,  Charles,  402. 

assault  on,  417. 
Sumter,  Fort,  taken,  445. 
Supreme  Court,  the  U.  S.,  organized,  241. 
importance  of,  241. 
decisions  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  266, 

33i,  563- 

See  table  facing  page  266. 
decision  of,  on  the  U.  S.  Bank,  312,  350. 
respecting    Fugitive-Slave    Act    of 

1793,  371- 

in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  421. 
on   the   states  and  the  Union,   511, 

516,  522,  523,  563. 
on  legal  tender,  543. 
respecting  the  Mormons,  552,  569. 
respecting  the  income  tax,  574. 
respecting  new  territories,  605. 
Surplus,  distribution  of  the,  354. 

Tariff,  the  first  (1789),  241. 

of  1812,  241. 

of  1816,  306. 

of  1824,  323. 

"  of  Abominations  "  (1828),  333. 

of  1832,  344. 

South  Carolina  nullifies  the,  345. 

and  nullification,  345,  34^'. 

the  "  Compromise,"  of  1833,  346. 

of  1842,  375. 

the  Walker,  of  1846,  389. 

the  Morrill,  or  war  tariff  of  1861,  389, 
451. 

the  war,  of  1862,  451. 

the  war,  of  1864,  451. 

of  1883,552- 

the  Mills  Bill  (1885),  555. 

the  McKinley  (1890),  566. 

the  Wilson-Gorman  (1894),  574. 

the  Dingley  (1897),  579. 

Porto  Rican,  the,  571. 

in  politics,  577. 

Taxation,  England  claims  the  right  to   tax 
the  colonies,  125,  182. 

the  colonies  protest  against,  178,  179. 

Sugar  Act,  180. 

the  Stamp  Act,  resistance  to,  181,  182. 

the  tax  on  tea,  185. 

the  chief  cause  of  the  Revolution,  178. 

under  the  Confederation,  230,  231. 

first,  under  the  Constitution,  241. 

the  income  tax,  574. 

decision  against  income  tax,  574. 

war  tax  (1898),  590. 
Taylor,  General,  in  Mexican  War,  382,  383. 

elected  President,  396. 

administration  of,  397. 

death  of,  402. 

Tecumseh's  conspiracy,  289. 
Telegraph,  the  electric,  375. 

Atlantic  cable,  525,  526. 

Pacific  cable,  608. 

wireless,  the,  608. 


liv 


THE    STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


Telephone,  the,  377. 
Temperance  cause,  the,  332. 
Tennessee  admitted,  258. 

readmitted,  520. 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  the  Crawford,  319. 

of  1*67,  521. 
Territories,  the  first  ceded  to  the  U.S.,  227. 

the  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  227. 

slavery  abolished  in  the  (1862),  473. 

See  Slavery  ;  Louisiana ;.  Florida  ;  Cali 
fornia;  Alaska. 
Test  Act,  in. 
Texas,  emigration  to,  320. 

annexation  of,  371-374. 

and  the  Mexican  War,  381,  382. 

admitted,  396. 

Thomas,  General  G.  H.,  489,  501. 
Ticonderoga,  Ethan  Allen  takes,  191. 
Tilden-Hayes,  the  presidential  contest,  543. 
Tobacco  in  Virginia,  20. 

cultivation  of,  begun,  36. 

effects  of,  37. 

Toleration,  religious.  See  Religious  Liberty. 
Toleration  Act,  109. 
Tonnage  Act,  241. 
Tories  of  the  Revolution,  194. 
Town  meeting,  government  by,  72,  78,  159. 
Townshend  Revenue  Act,  179. 
Trade  with  the  Indies,  3. 

with  the  West  Indies,  163,  180,  240,  304, 

effect  of  the  embargo  on,  284. 

renewal  of,  with  England  (1809),  288. 

"  free,  and  sailors'  rights  "  (1812),  303. 

prosperous  foreign,  249,  277,  282,   582, 
610. 

on  the  Ohio  (1796),  249. 
Treasury,  independent,  proposed,  359. 

established,  389. 
Treaty  of  England  and  France  (1763),  153. 

Fort  Stanwix,  with  the  Iroquois  (1768), 
62. 

with  France  (1778),  211. 

of  peace  (1783),  226. 

the  Jay  (1795),  256. 

with  Algiers  (1795),  257. 

with  Spain  (1795),  258. 

of  Ghent  (1814),  303. 

commercial  (1824-1829),  333. 

Webster-Ashburton  (1842),  370. 

Oregon  (1846),  381. 

with  Mexico  (1848),  388. 

with  Japan  (1854),  418. 

Burlingame,  with  China  (1868),  418. 

Washington  (1871),  535. 

Arbitration  (Venezuela)  (1896),  577. 

Arbitration,  general  pending  (1897),  577. 

with  Spain  (1899),  593. 
"  Trent  "  affair,  the,  460. 
Tripoli,  war  with,  278. 
Trusts,  580,  581. 
Turner,  Nat,  insurrection,  341. 
Tyler,  becomes  President,  367. 

contest  with  Congress,  368. 

his  numerous  vetoes,  368. 

labors  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  373. 

• 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  405. 
"  Underground  Railroad,"  the,  404. 


Union,  the,  how  formed,  201,  226-229,  232- 
236,  238. 

vs.  "State  Rights,"  229,  240,  264,  265 

338,345-. 
oee  Secession. 

what  Daniel  Webster  did  for  the,  339. 
Jackson's    determination    to    maintain, 

345- 

how  threatened  by  slavery.    See  Slavery. 
the  war  for,  inevitable,  439. 
what  the  Civil  War  decided  respecting 

the,  5-11. 

United  States,  independence  declared,  201. 
acknowledged  by  France,  212. 
acknowledged  by  Great  Britain,  226. 
Confederation,  the  Articles  of,  226,  227, 

228._ 

Constitution    of,    framed    and   adopted, 
233-236. 

government    of,    organized   (1789),   237, 
238. 

Revolutionary  debt,  provisions  for  pay 
ing,  243- 

first  census  (1790),  248. 

first  tariff,  241. 

bank  of,  the  first,  245. 
the  second,  305. 

mint  established,  first  coinage,  246. 

the,  in  1801,  268. 

material  obstacles  to  union,  270. 

acquisition   of  territory,   272,    310,   374, 
380,  388. 

the  first  steamboat,  279. 

the  Erie  Canal,  328. 

the  first  railway,  346. 

the  first  telegraph,  375. 

the    first    system    of    National    Banks 
established,  452. 

wars  of.    See  Wars. 

treaties  of.    See  Treaties. 

political  parties  in.    See  Parties. 

slavery  in.    See  Slavery. 

War  of  Secession  and  results,  446,  510. 

Civil  Service  Reform  in,  577. 

growth  of  (see  Population),  580. 

progress  of,  generally  (1789-1889),  562. 

no  frontier  line  in  1890,  567. 

the,  at  the  present  time,  580,  581,  58^, 
598. 

wealth  of  the,  562,  598,  612. 
Universities.    See  Colleges  and  Education. 
Utah,  Mormons  in  (see  Mormons),  362. 

admission  of,  577. 

Van  Buren,  elected  President,  356. 

administration  of,  356-367. 
Van  Rensselaer  estates,  51. 
Venezuela  question,  the,  576. 
Vermont  admitted  (1791),  258. 
Vermont  organized,  98. 

Vespucius,    Americus,    voyages    of     (i499~ 
1503),  10. 

America  named  from  (1507),  10,  u. 
Veto,  Jackson's  use  of  the,  351,  354. 

Tyler's  use  of  the,  368. 

Johnson's  use  of  the,  519-522. 

Hayes'  use  of  the,  547. 

Cleveland's  use  of  the,  557,  558. 
Vicksburg,  siege  and  capture  of,  486,  488. 
Vigilance  Committee  in  California,  393. 


INDEX 


lv 


Vinland,  2. 

Virginia,  Raleigh  sends  expedition  to,  19. 

named  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  19. 

colony  planned,  31. 

charter* first  (1606),  32. 
second  (i6og),  35- 
third  (1612),  36. 

settlement  of,  at  Jamestown,  34. 

government  of,  34,  38. 

Catholics  not  to  enter,  35. 

tobacco,  cultivation  of,  36. 

House  of  Burgesses  established,  38. 

slavery  introduced  into,  39. 

importation  of  women,  40. 

loses  part  of  her  territory,  41. 

loses  all  of  her  territory,  43. 

Cavaliers  in,  42. 

Navigation  Laws  hurt  trade  of,  42. 

Bacon  Rebellion  in,  44. 

spirit  of  independence  in,  46. 

R.    H.    Lee   of,   moves   Declaration    of 

Independence,  201. 
"  Virginia,"  the  (or  "  Merrimac  "),  and  the 

"  IVIonitor,"  464. 

Vote,  right  to,  restricted  in  colonial  times, 
rS9- 

See  Suffrage  and  Ballot. 

War,  the  Pequot  (1637),  101. 
King  Philip's  (1675),  86-88. 
with  France  for  the  possession  of  Amer 
ica  (1689-1736),  144-146. 

results  of,  153. 
King  William's  (1689),  144- 
Queen  Anne's  (1702),  145. 
King  George's  (1744),  146. 
French  and  Indian  (1754),  146. 
Revolutionary,  the  (1775),  178. 
with  the  Qhio  Indians  (1794),  254. 
with  France  (1798),  261. 
with  Tripoli  (1801),  278. 
with  Tecumseh  (1811),  289. 
with  England  (1812),  291. 

American  army  and  navy  in,  292. 

New  England's  opposition  to  the, 
299. 

results  of  the,  304,  305. 
with  the  Creeks  (1814),  299. 
First  Seminole  (1818),  309. 
Black  Hawk  (1832),  349. 
Second  Seminole  (1837),  363. 
Mexican  (1846),  382. 
the  Civil  (1861),  444. 

cost  of  the,  509. 

loss  of  life  in,  509. 

results  of,  510. 
Modoc  (1872),  544. 
Sioux  (1876),  544. 
with  Spain  (1898),  585-593. 
Warren,  General  Joseph,  198. 
Washington  sent  a  messenger  to  the  French, 
147. 

his  interest  in  the  West,  248. 
accompanies  Braddock,  149. 
helps  take  Fort  Duquesne,  148. 
made  commander  in  chief,  191. 
takes  command  of  army,  198. 
enters  Boston,  199. 
at  New  York,  203. 
saves  Putnam  and  his  army,  204. 


Washington  retreats  northward,  205. 

crosses  the  Delaware,  205. 

victory  at  Trenton,  205. 
Princeton,  206. 

worries  Howe,  207. 

at  Brandywine,  208. 

at  German  town,  208. 

at  Valley  Forge,  208. 

at  Monmouth,  213. 

at  Yorktown,  224. 

and  the  Constitutional  Convention,  233. 

elected  President,  238. 

inauguration  of,  239. 

Cabinet  organized,  240. 

the  Supreme  Court  organized,  241. 

the  first  tariff,  241. 

second  election  of,  252. 

abuse  of,  253. 

farewell  address  of,  258. 

death  of,  265. 

centennial  of  inauguration,  561. 
Washington  the  national  capital,  244,  266. 

taken  by  the  British,  298. 
Washington"  admitted,  561. 
Wautauga,  settlement  on  the,  123. 
Wayne,  "  Mad  Anthony,"    in   the   Revolu 
tion,  2 16. 

victory  over  the  Indians,  255. 
Wealth,  growth  of  national,  598,  612. 
Weather  Bureau  established,  535. 
Webster  on  the  Constitution  and  the  Union, 
338. 

our  debt  to,  339. 

and  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  370. 

and  the  fugitive-slave  law,  403. 

his  horror  of  secession,  400,  401. 
Webster,  Noah,  dictionary  of,  348. 
Wesley,  John  and  Charles,  134. 
West,  Benjamin,  the  artist,  172. 
West,  colonial  land  claims  in  the,  25,  32,  75, 
105,  118,  131,  156,  227. 

French  exploration   of  the  (1615-1673), 
137,  138,  140,  141. 

the    French    build  forts   in   the   (1695- 
1720),  144. 

Governor    Spotswood    and    the,     122, 
146. 

England    excludes   the    colonists    from 
the,  1 86. 

emigration  to  the,  123,  151,  249,  268,  270, 
280,  307,  329,  330,  392,  414,  531. 

first  settlements  made  in  the,  123,  151, 

the  Ohio  Company  and  the,  147,  249. 
Marietta  and  Cincinnati  founded,  249. 
Washington's  interest  in  the,  147,  248. 
Braddock's  expedition,  149. 
the,  at  the  end  of  the  war  with  France 

(!763),  i53»  !54- 

Conspiracy  of  Pontiac  in  the,  152. 
Indian  Wars  in  the,   152,  254,  289,  349, 

544-     See  Indians, 
growth  of   the,   123,   151,  249,  259,  268, 

270,  280,  307,  330,  349,  393,  394,  409, 

414,  4i5,  530,   53i,  542,  567,  576,  595, 

596,  609. 
Clark's    conquest    of     the     Northwest, 

214,  215. 
the,  and  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 

226. 


Ivi 


6 


THE   STUDENT'S   AMERICAN    HISTORY 


West,  the,  and  the  Treaty  of  Peace  (1783), 

Ordinance  for  the  government  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  227. 

states  formed  from  the  Northwest  Terri 
tory,  228. 

Spain  and  the  Mississippi,  232,  258,  270, 

threats   of  secession   in  the  Southwest 

(1787),  233- 

opening  up  the  (1788),  248-249. 
the,  in  1790,  248;  in  1801,  268. 
coal  found  in  the,  249. 
discovery  of  the  Oregon  Country,  250. 
the  Oregon  question,  378. 
what  was  thought  of  the  Oregon  Coun- 
•  try,  379. 

Whitman's  journey,  380. 

our  claim  to  the  Oregon  Country,  250, 

the  Oregon  treaty,  381. 

whisky    insurrection    in    Pennsylvania, 

Indian  land  cessions  in  the  (1795),  25.v 
Indian  land  cessions  in  the,  in  general. 

See  Indians, 
new  states  formed  in  the,  228,  258. 

See  names  of  western  states, 
suffrage  in  the  new  states  of  the,  259, 

the   Kentucky  nullification  resolutions, 

264. 
purchase  of  the  province  of  Louisiana, 

Fort  Dearborn  (Chicago)  erected,  270. 
communication  with  the,  249,  268,  270, 
279,  280,  320,  328,  347,  528-53',  549, 

could  the  Union  hope  to  retain  the,  270, 

379>  5^9* 

ex'pedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  276. 
Pike's   explorations  in  the  Northwest, 

the  Burr  conspiracy  and  the,  280. 

Tecumseh  in  the,  289. 

the,  favors  the  War  of  1812,  291. 

the,  and  the  War  of  1812,  291,  293,  296, 

297,  299,  3°7-. 

Monroe's  tour  in  the,  308. 

question  of  slavery  in  the,  227,  275,  313, 
316,  362,  371,  381,  389,  390,  398-401, 
409,  416,  421,  422,  429,  473. 

the,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  402. 

Russia  and  the  Pacific  coast,  322,  323. 

the,  and  the  tariff,  323,  333. 

the  first  steamboat  in  the,  279. 

the   National  Road  and  the,  278,  320, 

the  Erie  Canal  and  the,  329. 
the  Ohio  and  the,  329. 
the  "  Great  Western  March,"  329. 
first  railway  in  the,  347. 
the  Pacific  Railway,  420,  528-530. 
effects  of  the  Pacific  Railway,  530,  53 «• 
advantages  offered  by  the,  330. 
growth  of,  in  population,  330. 
the,  and  President  Jackson,  336. 
speculation  in  the,  354,  359,  425,  54°- 
agricultural    inventions    and    the,   355, 
409,  610. 


West,   the   Mormons  in  the,  360,  361,  427, 
428,  552,  557,  569. 

the  annexation  of  lexas,  371. 

the,  and  different  treaties,  226,  258,  30.,, 

370,381,  388,  535. 
the  telegraph  and  telephone  in  the,  377, 

378. 

conquest  of  California,  387. 
Mexican  land  cessions  in  the,  388. 
discovery  of  gold  in  California,  391,  392- 
Clay's  compromise  measures  and  the, 

399-401. 

the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  409-414- 
the  struggle  for  Kansas,  414-416. 
John  Brown  in  Kansas,  416. 
the  Dred  Scott  case  and  the,  424. 
discovery     of    silver,     petroleum,    and 

natural  gas  in  the,  426. 
Lincoln-Douglas  campaign  in  the,  429. 
the,  and  the  Civil  War.     See  Battles, 
the  "Army  of  the  West,"  in  the  grand 

review,  516. 
admission  of  western  states.   See  names 

of  states. 

purchase  of  Alaska,  526. 
the  "  Farmers'  Alliance  "  and  the,  541. 
the  "  Grangers  "  in  the,  541. 
the  "  Populists  "  in  the,  541,  570. 
railway  strikes  in  the,  546,  573. 
improvement  of  the  Mississippi,  549. 
land  appropriated  for  schools,  330. 
recovery  of  public  lands  in  the,  556. 
free  schools  in  the,  227,  330. 
cheap  land  in  the,  330,  596. 
religious    freedom    guaranteed    in    the 

Northwest,  227. 
centennial  celebrations  in,  559. 
opening  of  Oklahoma,  561. 
the,  and  woman  suffrage,  561. 
the  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago, 

the  St.  Louis  Exposition,  609. 
flour  mills  of  the,  141. 
mines,  grain  and  stock  farms,  576,  597. 
the  "  Commonweal  "  and  other     indus 
trial  armies,"  573. 
the  "New  West,"  531,  542,  576,  596, 

597- 

great  farms  of  the,  576. 
food  products  of  the,  576,  597,  610. 
railways  and  the,  596. 
no  frontier  line  in  1890,  567. 
West  Indies,  commerce  with,  180,  240,  304, 

West'virginia  organized,  448. 

admitted,  448. 
Whigs  of  the  Revolution,  194- 

rise  of  the  modern,  246,  356. 

victory  of,  in  1840,  366. 

death  of  the,  407. 

See  Political  Parties. 
Whisky  rebellion  (1794),  254- 

used  as  currency,  254. 

ring,  540. 

Whitelield  in  Georgia,  134- 
Whitman,  Dr.,  and  Oregon,  380. 
Whitney  invents  the  cotton  gin,  251. 
"Wilderness,"  the,  in  180.,  268. 
Williams,    Roger,    driven   from   Massachu 
setts,  80,  81. 


Williams,  Roger,  settles  Providence    112 
establishes  entire  religious  liberty,  113- 
Secures    a    liberal    charter    for    Rhode 
Island,  114. 

Wilmot  Proviso,  the,  390. 

Winthrop,  Governor,  76. 

Wireless  telegraphy,  607. 

Wisconsin  admitted,  396. 

Witchcraft  in  Salem,  91,  92- 

Witherspoon,  John,  66. 

Wolfe  takes  Quebec  (i759;>  I5I- 

Woman  suffrage,  391,  561,  599- 

Women  in  the  Revolution,  221. 
in  the  Civil  War,  454. 
what  fifty  years  have  done  for,  599. 

World's  Fair  (1853),  408. 


Ivii 


World's  Fair  (1876),  542- 

(1893),  571- 

(1904),  609. 

Writs  of  Assistance,  179- 
Wyoming  admitted,  561. 

"X.Y.Z."  Papers,  260. 

Yancev's  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  428. 

York?  the  Duke  of,  seizes  New  Netherland, 

seizes  Delaware,  116. 
Yorktown,  capture  of,  224. 

Zenger  upholds   the  freedom  of  the   press, 
60. 


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